


The Phoenix that Bled

by Theblack_swanqueen



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-03-12 10:28:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13545462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theblack_swanqueen/pseuds/Theblack_swanqueen
Summary: In peace, be vigilant. But is there such as thing as rest for a Guardian? With Panoptes gone, other tasks need to be tended to. Including the health of your Guardian. However Ghost feels his work is threatened by Sagira, and her unintentional connection with his Guardian could cause trouble. Guardians were only meant to have one ghost after all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize in advance for any funky grammar you find, I just started writing again recently and only have the energy to just type the chapter itself. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! Cheers!

It had been long enough from her past life that Ellana finally felt comfortable in her own skin. There was only one soul beating through her veins, and that was hers and hers alone. Well, and Pearl of course. At the moment Ellana was sitting cross legged in her room on the Wall, where the new head quarters of the Vanguard had been placed until further notice. She was using a brand new tooth brush and tweezers to get between Pearl's delicate gears and trying to pluck some bits of leaves and rocks that had gotten stuck.

Pearl popped out of her hands quivering, "Stop! That tickles!!"

"Well you just have to put up with the tickles until I can get that leave!" Ellana plucked the Ghost out of the air and pushed her fingers between his gears to expose the part she'd been working on. After much wriggling and pulling she finally yanked free a bit of leaf from either Titan, the last planet they'd visited in recent weeks.

"How the-? I'm always careful though!"

"Yeah but you know life always finds a way!" Ellana snorted as she scooped up the small pile of debris into her hand that had came from her ghost.

"Don't quote weird old movies at me!" Pearl spun each part of his shell to make sure everything was working properly. He then went over to the window sill where a soft silky pillow was and plopped right in the middle of it. Ghosts' didn't need beds of course, but Ellana seemed to enjoy Pearl's company face to face during those long late night conversations.

The Awoken Guardian finished putting away all the cleaning supplies before joining her Ghost at the window. It looked out on the city below. Huge cranes were slowly moving through the city sections column by column, either repairing or destroying buildings. The Cabal had done years worth of damage even with the tireless workers out there. However non of that mattered to Ellana, she sat there with her head on her elbow watching Pearl who, in turn eventually noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"...Really?"

"I mean... I think I've asked the question enough."

"Oh." Pearl bashfully looked back outside.

A few pigeons flew past.

"You can feel her too... can't you?" Pearl asked.

"Sometimes, depends on where we are." Ellana didn't move.

"It's one thing to deal with your old memories leaking out because I resurrected you badly..."

Ellana's eyes lingered on the right side of her ghost, "To be fair you were shot by a Fallen in the process."

"... but it's quite another that another Ghost has... shared my connection to you." Pearl finished.

"We didn't know what would happen when we put her in that machine, Pearl. I think she would've preferred her own shell upon waking up."

"She didn't have to put me to sleep!"

"But she also didn't have time to be quarreling with Ponaptys breathing down her neck."

Pearl clicked a few gears together, "Are you defending her??"

"I'm defending the situation, not her." Ellana felt a prickle of annoyance at her own ghost's distrust. However it had been getting better, they'd had many times where they'd sat with Ikora to help mediate their arguments over Sagira's.... occupation of Pearl's role as a Guardian's ghost. It was an unusual situation for certain, no Ghost had in the known history of the Guardians been attached to more than one Guardian. Sagira hadn't exactly replaced Pearl, but for the time she'd been there she'd had to take on a Ghosts' responsibilities to someone she had not chosen, so the threads were... tangled to put it mildly. 

Ikora had assured them that most likely time away from Sagira and Osiris would help mend the... strange bond they had. All Ghosts and Guardians were fiercely connected to each other. Even as briefly as she'd been with Osiris himself, Ellana had felt strange around him and she was confident that he'd felt that same connection though he'd said nothing. Most of his words had been exchanged with Ikora, and of course when he'd needed her help with other tasks on Mercury. 

Pearl looked down then back at Ellana, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

She waved the apology aside, "We're all struggling."

"That's the thing, I don't think Sagira struggles with this... this connection. Every time we've gone to Mercury she's reached out... strongly through me to get to you... and... I don't like that, it makes me not trust her."

"Sagira is not evil."

"Not evil... just... oh what's the word I'm looking for. I trust that she's on our side.... I just don't trust her with you is all." Pearl finally managed to spit out, "I... ever since we had to... to purge most of your old memories..."

Now Ellana reached out and cupped her ghost in both hands, "You are my Ghost, Pearl, you've done what others could not have done. Most Ghosts would've died, you persevered." she smiled warmly, "I am what I am today, because of you." she rubbed her thumb over a nasty scar across Pearl's center where the Fallen bullet had nearly torn him apart.

"You're not weak, or broken." Ellana finished. She'd said this many times, and she would say it more until Pearl believed it.

The Ghost looked into his Guardian's eyes for quite some time before finally tilting in a nod. Ellana smiled warmly before putting a kiss on her finger and tapping the top of his frame. Pearl twittered happily, the ritual of affection his Guardian had adopted always made his circuits buzz with a pleasant warmth. Something that he could only describe as possibly love. Not the kind of love that involved the weird and gross mating rituals of organic life forms, but one of mutual respect and admiration.

Pearl watched Ellana settle down under her blankets and open up a fictional novel she'd found in one of the City's civilian libraries. Eventually she would fall asleep and rest that dreamless sleep Pearl had worked so hard to achieve after their rough start as Ghost and Guardian.

It was a silent agreement between all of the Ghosts that it was better to choose a Guardian who'd long been dead, it was easier to tuck the memories away to make a good soldier for the Light. 

But Pearl just... couldn't pass Ellana up. 

When you found the one you found the one.

The cracked moon reached the height of its journey across the sky. Pearl was resting when something... moved. His optic popped open and he looked around the room franticly, only to find that he and the sleeping Ellana were the only ones there. 

He felt the movement again and suddenly realized it wasn't in the room itself that this other one was in, but inside his head. 

It was Sagira. 

She wasn't doing anything in particular, no 'touching' per se if there was such a thing in the phantom world of code. The older Ghost was simply... there. Reaching out through their weakened bond.

Pearl immediately put up a wall metaphorically, protecting his memory core and consciousness out of instinct. The other presence hovered over him, a feeling of amusement tickled his senses. The communication was a bit different than sending compressed messages or a live feed. Sagira, in essence, was a part of Pearl. Though she could only do this when she was in the same reality as them. Her and Osiris must physically be on Mercury somewhere.

The tarnished colored ghost 'twirled' around happily, reaching out to Ellana gently to check on the Guardian, whom simply rolled over and sighed heavily at the mental touch. Pearl did the equivalent of a wrist slap against Sagira, the pop of junk data he sent telling her to back off without actually hurting her.

Sagira distanced herself, the buzz of amusement from her presence becoming louder.

Then she was gone. Jumping through a different portal in time and space. 

Pearl waited for a few more minutes before slowly sinking back on to his pillow. He didn't believe Sagira would ever harm them. 

That didn't mean he had to like her. 

The endless cycle of the universe... or in this case... Ellana and Pearl were just good at what they did. So they got all of the 'no pressure' assignments as far as Pearl was concerned. 

"Oh come on, this one's not so bad."

"Yes but every time we step out of our room some god pops up and is like: Rawrrrr I want to eat humanity!!! Can we just stay and sleep in?" Pearl huffed around in circles as Ellana was finishing putting on her black and green Warlock robes and gathering up what she needed for the trip. 

Ellana squinted her bright green eyes at Pearl before diving into her gun safe, "Well that would solve all the universes problems wouldn't it?"

"Yes, staying in our room would encourage all the evil gods out there to leave us alone. It's a scientific fact." Pearl zipped over to her shoulder and started pocketing away several bricks of ammunition, "Put your hair up!" he squeaked.

"Oh yeah..." Ellana whirled around and ran to her mirror. She pulled up her long black hair into a messy bun that could easily be squished down once she wore her helmet.

"Oh my Traveler... Ellana you're driving me crazy!" Pearl flew over and pinched the hair tie between his gears and pulled her hair apart, "Brush it first!"

"Wow... we're late and you want me to brush my hair... ok Dad." 

"Don't call me 'dad'!"

Once Pearl was satisfied his Guardian looked like a properly groomed Warlock, the two made their way out to the ship yard where Holliday had their ship ready. They exchanged greetings and other small chit chat before Ellana gave the Shipwright a half hug and climbed up the stairs to the launch platform.

The bustling of other Guardians, civilians and machinery dulled as soon as the door shut and sealed itself. With a hum the dashboard came to life as the Awoken sat in the pilot's seat.

"We'll be headed to Mercury this time, Zevala wants us to contact the Cult there for information, mostly about the Vex and what's left of the Red Legion in that area. Details inside." Pearl added as he tucked the note away in a different corner of his core. 

"Ugh... the Cult." Ellana curled her lip in disgust, "Some of them are alright."

"I'm assuming you're not including Brother Vance in that statement."

The ships engines started whining as they spun up for lift off, "He's somewhere in the middle."


	2. Chapter 2

The trip to Mercury was quiet, the partially chewed up planet greeted them with a harsh blast of air and sand. In the distance Ellana could see the portal to the Infinite Forest. The inside of her visor lit up with various numbers and quadrants, scans picking up no hostile movement, though the equipment simply couldn't quantify the portal itself, simply showed it as a void in the data. 

'What are you thinking?' Pearl asked within her head space.

The Warlock shrugged, "Ikora told me that forever is linear, that the Vex will need to be fought on many fronts of time. How can Osiris have the will to fight such a large war by himself?"

'He's not alone, he's got Sagira, and you, and me, and now Ikora and the Vanguard.... even if they still don't see eye to eye.' Pearl said as they traveled away from the ship, gun at rest position. 

"That's hardly an army, a wall full of Titans barely held back a Fallen assault... until Osiris jumped in. Quite admirable to fight for something that's shunned him." Ellana slipped in the rolling sand a few steps before catching herself, "Well... I guess it's not specifically the Vanguard he's fighting for."

'All humanity, his heart is that big.' Pearl surmised. 

Ellana found the portal to the current Lighthouse that the majority of the Cult currently resided in. A few guards were posted, but they recognized her and didn't raise a fuss. Ellana hoped to make her business there quick, ever since the Cult had found out that she'd been in the mere presence of Osiris they'd treated her... with a sort of reverence. Like one of their 'gospels' or relics to look at and admire. 

Incense would've assaulted her senses had she felt inclined to remove her helmet, but previous visits had prepared her. It wasn't that the smells were displeasing just... overbearing. Like the man who led this group. 

Ikora had told the story of how this cult had only helped Osiris get banished from the City. Ellana found it quite sad, that people so eager to be apart of a legend would essentially smother it to death.

Oh well... they were useful in other ways.

Even though they were a Cult, they still had to have organization to survive especially outside of the City. That meant they had defense officers and those were the people she wanted. Information was easier to get since they revered her somewhat. The officer in question happily provided the current troop movements in the area. 

Nothing interesting really, the Cabal that had been left behind were now separated into different squadrons, some looked as if they intended to try their own things, while others still clung true to their colors. In recent months they'd been quiet, which was unusual for such a large race and interesting enough that Ellana wanted to scout one of these rouge squadrons out.

The Guardian lucked out on her exit of the Lighthouse as she'd heard the mutter of Brother Vance's return. 

No Vex patrolled today, and the Cabal didn't seem interested in forcing their way into the Forest. So Ellana sped away to the nearest set of mountains where the last known location of the Cabal had been reported.

'Shouldn't you call a fire team?'

"You say that like I can't do a scouting mission by myself." 

'Well, I know you can, but... having a fire team is nice and safe.' Pearl retorted. 'But who needs safe.' Ellana chuckled at the nervous squeak in her Ghosts' voice. Despite originally being groomed to be a scholar, Ellana had found her fighting spirit through an EXO Titan, who was elsewhere in the galaxy. She would be forever thankful for his help.

Eventually her travel turned to walking, it wasn't difficult to track Cabal, they left massive treads and footprints where ever they went. It was in their nature to welcome a fight. 

Ellana felt it before she saw it, something rippled in the air, sending an electric tingling through her body. It was a mix of chaos and silence. Had a normal person approached the area they would've been frozen several paces ago, but her Light protected her from the small side effects. 

The Warlock looked up at the sheer rock walls that rose up on either side of her. She took note that a stream of sand between rocks seemed to be not falling quite as fast as it was supposed to. The wind had stopped whistling, or at least, it had stopped shooting through the porous rocks so quickly. The long notes sounded ethereal, like the dying crying out. She finally rounded the corner and nearly jumped out of her skin when she came face to face with a Psion. However she just as quickly collected herself when she realized that the Psion was not moving. It was standing... or frozen in place. It had been running from something.

Curiously, Ellana stepped around the time frozen Psion and followed its blood trail further up the path.

'Oh yes... totally normal.' Pearl squeaked.

"Abnormal time pockets aren't... not normal on Mercury." Ellana muttered back. They found a dead kneeling Legionary slumped over , the front of his armor with a giant hole. Ellana swallowed her urge to gag at the site of splintered bones and intestines. She noticed that there were little to no burn marks on the armor, it looked more torn apart and shredded. Something had dug its way into the Cabal. A drop of blood slowly, ever so slowly dripped down the Legionary's face mask.

"Pearl, the Vex wouldn't leave any... wild animals left from the Golden Age... right?"

'Not to my knowledge... plus not a lot of organic things can exist on Vex planets... especially not this machine.' Pearl braved exiting Ellana's brain space to get a closer look at the Cabal's injuries, "Well, I'll catalog what we find and send it back to the Vanguard, see if they have any sort of... animal attack records." They continued on their path and rounded a corner cautiously only to be greeted by the rest of the story.

"...Well..." Ellana quipped, "I think we found one of the rogue squadrons." 

The path opened up to a chasm created by the splitting of continental crust. Miles and miles down were just rocks and dirt, then eventually a white mist that covered the bottom, most likely a massive river of Radiolarium. The crack had probably happened when the Almighty had started chewing through the planet for fuel. 

However that was not the impressive part. 

All along the broken shelf were cracks of light, not just in the rocks and ruins of Vex tech, but in the air itself. They looked like bolts of lightening had broke across a Vex gate but instead of a neatly designed plate it was a bulge trying to rupture. 

One of these bulges was roiling and spitting showers of sparks from the wall next to one of the cargo vehicles. It appeared something had knocked the caravan over and started dismantling whatever it saw. The slower time must've happened after the attack because there were still Cabal crawling around somewhat alive and others in battle positions. 

Pearl flew as close as he would dare to the bubbling mound of light on the wall, "It's.... it's I think this is a rip in time."

"Rip in time... a Vex portal?"

"No no... an actual rip!" Pearl flew over to the edge of the cliff and looked down. He noticed flits of familiar patterns, Vex were teleporting everywhere all along the chasm. Many were clustering up against boils of energy with several medium sized Hydras, "Look! The Almighty must've caused damage to their reality machine remember? The Vex are trying to repair everything, look look there!" 

A group of Vex straight beneath them all marched straight up to a whirlpool looking hole, the three Hydras firing beams of data at it with the support of its minions. The rip abruptly blinked then folded in on itself.... then exploded. Several small Vex died that were too close, but the machines didn't seem to notice as the rip seemed to have closed off. The group didn't waste a single second, already they'd teleported away to deal with another rupture further along.

"Huh... odd... why didn't any of this come up on sensors on Earth?"

"It might be a recent development." Pearl answered, taking in all the data he could from their position before wrapping it up neatly into a compressed file he would send later once they were out of the time flux, "Let's keep going... hopefully whatever-."

"Shh!" Ellana hissed, "Don't... don't you dare say what I think you're about to say." Pearl rolled his optic before disappearing back into her head space. 

Weapon at low ready, Ellana continued to walk along the essentially dismantled caravan of Cabal. She was careful to avoid being directly next to them or their vehicles because at certain points there would be a pulse of static in the air and everything in front of her would move slightly, like seeing a video in super slow and then slow before slowing down again. 

A loud crack of lightening above Ellana's head sounded when three Hydra's closed another one of the tears, two exploded by something that flew out of the portal and their remains splattered over the pathway behind her. The Hydra that landed nearest to her saw her with its large eye, its pupil widened considerably as if to recognize her, then it went dark, its life spilling into a pool around it. 

Ellana pressed her lips together as she watched the machine die, purposefully she turned her back to it and pressed on. She was a Guardian, death should be nothing to her. But old heart aches from a past life didn't die very easily. 

She heard it before she saw it, and if she was honest with herself she would've preferred to not see it. 

It started off with a quiet tick tick, tick tick. This ticking fluctuated at different speeds, and was drowned out at one point by the roar of a giant Cabal commander. The air pulsed a few times, Ellana felt time shift a few moments forward... or maybe backward? She crouched low and peaked around a vehicle that had been knocked over.

A Colossus tried to throw something over his shoulder but the lithe form thumped its long tail against the wall to ground its weight. It trilled loudly, a sound that didn't just echo in Ellana's ears, but in her head as well. The creature was long, slender and what was left of its hide were white scales. It had bat like front limbs and all four with razor sharp claws. 

The creatures long pointed face bore blood covered fangs and empty dark eyes. It backed away from the Colossus only to reset its advance. Its broken and burned scales shimmered and the Cabal around them moved backward a few paces, getting them out of the way.

Ellana had to jump out of the way as the vehicle righted itself part way.

'What is that thing?!' Pearl yelled in her head.

In a blink the creature leaped and managed to lock its jaw around the Cabal's face, braced its feet and twisted violently. The Colossus' hands reached for where its head used to have been before thundering dead to the ground. 

Ellana took a slow deep breath, her blood was boiling with song and fire, ready for the fight. It must've come from the portal further back along the road. 

The serpentine creature chewed on the head of the Cabal, less like it was eating it and more like it was examining it with its tongue. After a while it dropped the morsel and licked its lips.

Its scales rippled with light and the air grew cold, darkness flowed. The remaining Cabal fell to the ground and quickly began to age, their armor rusting to dust along with their bodies. Even the stones and dirt shifted colors to show passing storms of weather. Ellana felt her skin crawl with discomfort as time attempted to touch her.

Suddenly it looked up at her. 

From this angle it revealed that part of its face had been consumed by the Vex fluid. 

Ellana straightened up and slowly started backing away, "Well... that's not ideal." 

'Bright...'

The oddly shaped word entered her head like an unwanted thought.

It crouched low and carefully stalked toward her, dark eyes widening with excitement.

'...come... come to me....'


	3. Chapter 3

Ellana and Pearl had been looked at in many ways by many things in the universe. Hate, fear, wonder... this was a look that they both agreed was the creepiest out of all the looks something could give them.

It was hunger.

Slinking low to the ground, blood dripping from its grinning maw, it stepped closer to the Guardian. Its eyes wide with delirious excitement the thing intruded again.

'Come little thing... let me see you...'

At the same time it leaped, Ellana threw a thread of fire causing it to stumble. It screeched in pain as its scales blackened from the attack but it recovered faster than Ellana wanted. Empty shells scattered around her feet as the Warlock unloaded her weapon with precise hits to its face and mouth. 

This only seemed to irritate the thing as it tossed its head and howled.

'Run already!' Pearl yelled.

Ellana spun out of the way, spreading her arms wide and a wall of flame erupted in front of her, forcing the scaled abomination to back up. She took the chance to sprint back the way she came.

What was left of the Cabal was now crumbling into small dust piles along the path. She also noticed with a twinge of annoyance that the path was slowly growing smaller, the cliff getting worn away by the quickening of time. 

'Let me see you!'

It thundered just behind her, claws scraping against the rocks, jaws snapping where the Warlock had only just been a second before.

Sprinting around the corner back into the ravine where the portal in the wall still bubbled and suddenly the Cabal were no longer dust, several of them back on their feet, confused and angry. Ellana yelled in surprise and slid quite by accident under neath the first Cabal's spread feet before they realized who and what was upon them. 

The next few moments were a flurry of confused reactions. The air rippled at the command of the pale monster, causing the Cabal to be part dust and part alive as they tried to regroup and attack. Ellana was sure she saw flashes of future, present, past, and even further back than that. At one point she tripped over the root of a lovely pink tree that had not been there before.

Ellana whirled around and around, trying to defend herself from the Cabal as much as avoid the alien creature. She turned and ran right smack into a Hobgoblin. It twittered at her.

"Oh come on!" she growled. Ellana threw her arm forward to blow the machine away but it teleported just in time. It was then she saw several more Vex teleporting into the ravine from all angles. The Warlock's eyes burned with Light, ready to fill the area with fire until she realized non of them were really paying attention to her. 

In fact they teleported around her in order to get to the serpent monster.

It flared its webbed crown and ears, snapping its teeth with a nasty crack. It spun in place, flaring its wings trying to make itself look larger, scales raised up like hackles on a dog. The Vex portion of its face glimmered, seeming to cause it irritation. 

Of course this display of hostility was met with only the wordless advance of the Vex as they closed in. Hydras appeared above them, connecting lines of energy to perhaps lock the area of time down.

The creature looked around itself, taking in its situation. Then its gaze fell back on Ellana who was standing just outside, on the proper timeline of dirt road she'd first started on.

'...it's dark... ' it whispered to her. '... I can't see you...'

Several Vex were swiped away by a powerful tail before it stomped its claws into the dirt and screamed. Despite putting her hands over her ears, Ellana couldn't muffle the sonic blast. 

The Hydras seemed to ignore all the destruction around them, slowly closing the triangle they'd created around the monster. 

However it would have none of it, its claws glowed and it swiped the air. Lightening struck the ground as one of the rips in time appeared and it slithered into it before it bubbled closed behind it.

The Vex ceased their activity.

What was left of the Cabal turned and ran, some of them immediately crumbling to dust.

A few moments of silence passed as the Vex just stood there, looking at one another. A few clicks and beeps and occasionally turning to a different member of the group. Perhaps they were talking about what had just occurred?

Ellana decided to take this opportunity of strange Vex behavior and quietly step away from the massive group. Their disinterest in killing her was a delightful break. 

She didn't stop running until she finally saw the sun light creeping through the rocks. Taking a moment to glance behind her to make sure she wasn't being followed, Ellana's heart seized when she felt someone touch her shoulder. Luckily the recipient of her rather violent reaction was just as fast as her and caught her flying fist before it reached him.

Ellana stared into a pair of clear brown eyes a few seconds, "Osiris? Oh... thank the Traveler." she sighed. The Guardian suddenly became very self conscious of how dirty she was, gun hanging loosely on her front. 

"Don't thank the Traveler." Osiris muttered as he finally released her. The older Guardian looked passed her into the dark road way.

"Well hi there!" Sagira appeared promptly and flew up to Ellana's face where Pearl immediately appeared and kept her at a distance.

"Hello, Sagira." Pearl said flatly.

Ellana withheld a chuckle, "Be nice, Pearl. I'd rather see them than what was back there." she dusted off her robes and secured her rifle.

"And what was back there? I came out of the Forest to investigate when things started... to go wrong." Osiris asked.

"More wrong than usual he means. Ella you missed a spot.... nope... left side... there you go." Sagira returned to Osiris' shoulder. Pearl narrowed his optic at the other Ghost. He had been ready to say it.

"Uuuh... good question." Ellana finished wiping off her face, "The old canyon that used to be there? It seems to have been... torn up by what I can only assume was the Almighty when it started eating the planet." 

"And?"

"Time is starting to fall apart in that area, the Vex are all over trying to repair it." Pearl added. 

"Huh... I guess even to the Vex a timeline that's broken up is not useful to them." Sagira thought out loud, "So that's a good thing! The Vex are useful for once!"

"This explains why the Forest started to crumble in certain areas of operation." Osiris started to walk passed Ellana.

"No no no!" she reached out and grabbed his wrist to stop him, "There's not just time rips in that canyon!" He looked down at what she was doing and she quickly let go, "Something is hunting, and it even has the Vex riled up." she continued to explain the whole story. It was a bit difficult to speak to Osiris, not only did he wear his mask most of the time but the only time she'd seen him with a friendly face was when he'd been talking to Ikora or when he'd been reunited with Sagira. 

An eerie high pitched squeal caused all four of them to look down the road. Ellana reached up to her ears and realized that they'd been bleeding, at some point Pearl must've healed her on the way out of the canyon.

Osiris walked up to where the shadows started to to fade in and reached out one gloved hand. The air shimmered just gently enough that if you hadn't been paying attention, you wouldn't have noticed.

"They were supposed to be extinct."

Ellana raised one brow, "What was supposed to be extinct?"

"What you describe sounds like an Ahamkara, the great dragons who offered to grant wishes." He glanced back at her, "I've never seen one myself except in the Archives though."

"An Ahamkara infected with Vex tech... oh that sounds wonderful." Pearl grumbled.

Osiris paced back and forth a few times, "That might explain how it could tear through the fabric of time, with the weave so weak in this area, it probably found a way to travel." 

Sagira took a moment to do her own scan of the area, "Time traveling wish dragon... interesting... must've found refuge on Mercury during the Hunt."

"We need more information, Ellana, I need you to go to the Vanguard and use their equipment to process this area of Mercury. I don't want to step into the Forest unless I need to with these side effects."

"I can send a message, but I'm concerned about that... thing... Ahamkara... space dragon whatever it is. What if it decides to leave the canyon? We can't rely on the Vex to trap it, we don't know what they intend to do or not do with it!" Ellana exclaimed.

"You don't have a lot of patience for a Warlock." 

The words stung Ellana a little more than she wanted them to. It sent her thoughts back to when she'd first arrived at the Tower. Injured and confused, Pearl (who had not been named at the time) had barely survived the encounter so his resurrection had not been perfect. Or at least, that's what other ghosts had said. It had made training at the time very difficult, as old memories kept popping up out of nowhere from her old life.

"Excuse me, she has plenty of patience." Pearl floated around Osiris to make sure they were looking at each other, "I-."

"-agree." Sagira cut him off, "There's no need to treat you know... your savior like a student. She was Ikora's student, not yours." 

"I'm right here." Ellana reminded them.

Osiris waved them all off, "Enough! Ellana, please get me those readings. I need to go examine the damage in that canyon." the older Warlock said nothing more as he left.

Sagira lagged behind a moment, "Don't worry, he's just cranky because his war with the Vex in the Forest is interrupted. Once he knows more about the situation he'll cheer up."

"Cheer up?? Is that even a thing with Osiris??" Pearl snorted.

"Sure! Well..." she looked between them, "I mean you saving him has been one of the first breaks he's had in a long time.... a long... long time...." she looked at her Guardian then back at them, "Send me that info when you can, I'll call if we need help." she sped off to catch up with Osiris.

Pearl needed a bigger antenna to help send the information he'd already gathered, as well as several other things that they needed to report. So they traveled back to their ship so they could use its facilities to transfer the data. Ellana took the time to clean up properly and rest. She didn't really need to sleep, but she found that sometimes just laying down somewhere, closing your eyes and doing nothing helped her find her center. Ikora might call it meditation, but Ellana only did that formally back on Earth.

In the mean time Pearl was at the front of the ship, uploading and compressing the collected data. He was in the middle of encrypting it when Sagira 'bounced' happily into his communications. 

Pearl put on his most unamused 'face' on his optic, 'Hello Sagira.' he kept the conversation nonverbal so as not to disturb Ellana.

'Hey, Pearl! You guys certainly left a party out here.'

'The 'party' had already started by the time we got there.' He started working on the request of information they needed from the satellites in orbit, or at least the ones that hadn't been destroyed by the Red War.

'Yup... we can tell.' she said slowly.

He narrowed his optic a bit before finishing the request and started encrypting that file as well. 

'Sooo..' Sagira continued, 'How long has it been since the last time we met?'

'On this side of the Vex gate? A couple years since... well I guess since Osiris talked with Ikora.'

'Huh...' there was a couple moments of silence. Pearl thought he heard some muffled conversation but he remained focused on his task.

'Sagira?'

'Yes?'

'What do you want?'

A flirty chuckle answered first, 'I wanted to ask you if you'd... like to try something with me later.'

Pearl looked up at the mountain range that they'd left only a couple hours before, 'Define 'try' something?'

'I gotta go Osiris needs me, but I'll explain later, I've been doing a lot of studying about the machine that put me in your shell. Toodles!'

The line cut off.

The computer in front of him beeped, telling him the encryption was complete. He sent the broadcast. It would take time for the Vanguard to respond but he wasn't worried about that. Pearl had thought that the machine that had 'revived' Sagira had disappeared along with what was left of the Cult in that area.

No... perhaps Sagira herself had requested that they retrieve it for her since the technology itself was rather remarkable. Well, to someone who hadn't had their shell invaded by another individual. 

"Oh... oh this can't be good."


	4. Chapter 4

Ellana lay stretched on her cot reading a digitized book she'd left there for slow times like this. She wanted to go back to the canyon not so much to kill the time traveling Ahamkara but to make sure that Osiris was alright. She knew he was more than capable of taking care of himself, he hadn't gotten this far without being smart. Ellana just couldn't help but care. Her friends often told her that she cared too much, she would counter with the argument that they didn't care enough. Really the argument went no where and Ellana was left fretting. Over the years she'd just learned to keep her fidgeting hidden.

The Guardian spun a little ball of Solar energy in between and around her fingers until she realized she'd been staring at the same page for the last ten minutes. Heaving a sigh, she snuffed out both the orb and the book before leaving the spare room.

Outside the hot wind toyed with hair that had come loose from her bun. It was night by now but Mercery tended to remain a similar temperature with Sol so close. 

"Pearl, do you still sense Sagira and Osiris?" she asked out loud, even though she knew the Ghost was up at the ship's console.

"In and out, they must be really working those rips. I don't know if that's wise but then again... what part of diving head first into danger IS wise." he responded in her head space. 

Ellana smiled, "You shoulda picked a different day job then."

"Yeah but then I wouldn't be with you."

"Awww, you're so sweet." Ellana purred and she felt a happy tingling course through her nerves. 

"Aww you're sweet too."

Ellana felt her heart seize for a second before she saw Sagira next to her, not too far off, Osiris exited a triangular portal, panting slightly. It looked as though he'd received a couple of wounds since this afternoon but they were healed, the only remnant was his bloodied robe.

The portal quietly closed behind him as he shouldered his rifle, "How long have we been gone?" he asked.

"Hello to you too, and you've been gone for about six hours." the Awoken folded her arms, "We should be getting a transmission back from the Vanguard here soon. Did you run into the.... whatever the Ahamkara?" Osiris pulled his mask down and wiped the sweat from his face. Ellana couldn't help but notice he'd shaved relatively recently.

"Not directly, but I confirmed my theory that it's taking advantage of this damaged timeline. I think for now I will cease my wars with the Vex at least in this moment."

"Your doubles will take care of the Forest for now, they're more expendable than you if this machine planet implodes." Sagira said.

"If it explodes it might just take the system with it, we have to keep it in tact for now." He abruptly stared at the ground, as if hearing something else.

Ellana waited a moment before asking, "Um... Osiris?"

"Yes." Suddenly he was back with them, "Sorry, I was thinking." He rubbed his face before turning away quickly.

"Honestly, he thinks too much... but I feel bad stopping him cuz it gets things done." Sagira muttered in a low voice to Ellana, who cracked a small smile.

"Alright!" Pearl popped up in between the two ladies (shoving Sagira off to the side), "So we got the satellite information back. Here ya go." he projected a 3D hologram for all of them to inspect, "From the projected numbers..."

"This tear is growing." Osiris finished.

"Wow... Ikora was right he is fast." Pearl said in a lone tone. Sagira floated up next to him, "Well, he wouldn't be one of the best Warlocks out there if he wasn't an over achiever." Osiris stepped closer to the map to inspect the information further.

"That doesn't look right." Ellana brushed her fingers over the particles of light to make the data shift, "Why would this thing be growing? The Vex are all over that canyon repairing it."

"A good question." Osiris said. Something that was the closest to a compliment she'd received in her entire relationship with this man. Even when she'd come back to help him correct things in the Forest he compliments had been minimal. She wasn't quite sure if the years in exile had chipped away most of his kindness, or that Ikora had put up with this attitude her entire apprenticeship. 

"Whatever it is, it's tearing up the fabric of time faster than the Vex are repairing it." Pearl added, "Also, I just got word from the Vanguard, they're telling us to wait for further instructions while they assess the situation."

"Tell them that Ellana and I will take care of the situation. Don't send anymore Guardians unless they want them tempted by this rogue Ahamkara." Osiris said with finality. 

"Whoa whoa... you're not the boss of us!" Pearl growled.

"And neither is the Vanguard, they are just a means of organizing the Guardians." he looked directly at Ellana this time, "We exist to act, we don't have time for the Vanguard's politics."

"For a man with all time and space before him you sure don't have a lot of patience." Ellana took his look of surprise as a triumph, "Relax, Osiris, we're coming with you..."

Pearl perked up, "We are?"

She held up her hand, "After we make a personal call to Ikora. If anything to just let her know what's happening." Ellana added. She knew she would owe Ikora in some form or fashion, the Vanguard Warlock never asked for anything directly but Ellana made it a habit to repay her senior in some way whenever she had to take the heat for her actions against orders.

"Make it quick, we can't have this tear engulf this system." Osiris muttered, turning away. The younger Warlock walked off a small distance for some privacy.

Pearl used Ikora's ghosts' personal channel to each them quickly. The ghosts could communicate the easiest over long distances, but Ellana needed to skip the formalities. She quickly explained the situation to Ikora once she answered and waited for a response.

A moment of thought passed.

"He's always been an... enthusiastic individual to spend time with. Being in the Vex network has probably changed him a little. I can only imagine what not having a linear time line can do to one's sanity." Ikora sighed heavily. Ellana had a feeling that Ikora wanted to be the one to be at Osiris' side, but she had to take care of the Guardians at the City. This duty she would not abandon. 

"Press forward, Guardian. Have patience with Osiris. He never liked company except on his own terms." Ikora shut off the feed just as the voice of Zevalla sounded from somewhere in the background. 

"Wait are we really doing this?" Pearl hissed quietly near his Guardian's ear.

"Yes! Why are you fussing?"

"I always fuss!"

"You do but not about doing our duty to the Traveler." Ellana poked the top of Pearl's head, "So what's the difference now?"

Pearl glanced over at Osiris who was talking with his own ghost, Sagira happened to look over at the same time and gave one of her spikes a little waggle, like she was waving.

He looked back at Ellana, "No reason! Just... don't like jumping in to a situation with an unknown fire team member.... heh..." The Awoken gave him a smirk before turning and going back to the other Warlock.

"Are you finished?" Osiris asked.

"Oh it's a never ending dance. However today I dance my own tune." Ellana put her helmet over her head, "Ready when you are, Osiris."

"Well this is exciting!" Sagira twittered happily.

"Focus, Sagira." Osiris said.

"You can't tell me this isn't exciting, what it's been a couple.... several hundred years since we last had a companion as cool as me? I'm positive you'll like Ella's conversations!" Sagira twirled around Ellana's head before returning to Osiris' side. He gave her a strange glance before opening another one of his Vex portals, "This should take us back to where I was last. Let's go."

"Yes... Ella... let's." Pearl endured his Guardian's side long glance and eye roll. 

The sand filled wind of Mercury boiled away as Ellana set foot into the triangular portal. It was replaced by stillness and static, the sound of flowing liquid touched her ears before her eyes could drink up the differences in shape and color. 

The Guardians were at the bottom of the canyon, the sky was but a mere tiny strip overhead. On either side rose high walls of Vex structures and radiolarian waterfalls. It seemed like at some point it all had been connected but a great shifting force had ripped the Vex's structures apart. It was a comforting thought that even everlasting creatures like the Vex weren't completely immune to natural disasters like the shifting of tectonic plates. 

"It's a different time of day every time you look up." Osiris said as he checked his gun and put his mask back on, "Not that it matters too much to the Vex. The only thing this erratic time zone does is slow them down on the physical plain."

"I assume Vex design things beyond what our eyes see in front of us." Ellana's response earned her a different look from Osiris, this time one of pleasant surprise, he nodded.

"Sooo we're looking for whatever is causing this anomaly to... you know... not shrink." Sagira said.

"The Ahamkara?"

The feathers shook dramatically with Osiris disagreement, "No, it doesn't have a reason to make a hole in time worse."

"Why not?"

"It benefits from creatures being alive, not dead."

"Tell that to that very dead squadron of Cabal." 

Osiris only chuckled coldly in response, "Seems there's more than one anomaly down here."

"That's for sure." Sagira chimed.

Pearl narrowed his optic and snuggled close to Ellana's neck, sitting in between her collar and a fold of cloth so he didn't fall off. He didn't always like hanging out in her head space.

"We'll cover more ground if we split up." Osiris said.

"Or Ella will get totally lost without us, it's not like she has a get out of jail free card like you." Sagira scolded her Guardian.

"Reasonable enough. These areas are prone to shifting with time being so... unpredictable." 

"Unpredictable... sounds like fun." Ellana smiled more out of nerves than her sense of humor. She never liked messing with time or anything beyond the mortal realm. However, the Beyond in whatever form seemed to always manage to pay her a visit. It was a disadvantage to being Awoken and Risen, you could tell when something was wrong or different before anyone else could.

The fights were minimal as they walked the seemingly never ending length of the canyon. Vex for the most part kept their distance as they seemed too preoccupied with repairing the tears in time as well as the physical structures caused by the Cabal star destroyer. Ellana imagined that construction wasn't just happening in front of their eyes.

The two Guardians were silent for quite some time. Only conversing when they needed to analyze or exchange information. However the more they spoke, the more Ellana noticed that his tone softened a little. Perhaps the more she showed her willingness to assess things in a scientific manner, the more comfortable he felt.

They chased down clues for a good couple of days, that was about the time Ellana actually started to feel tired. Not so much physically tired, as they were mostly walking except for the occasional scuffle with Vex, it was a mental exhaustion. Guardians could perform for weeks at a time if they wanted/needed to. However they were encouraged by their seniors to take a break for the sake of sanity. They did, after all, come from a being that rested on a regular basis. 

"Osiris!" she called up to the man ahead as she finished jumping over a small creek of white glowing fluid, "I think it's time to rest."

"We don't have time to rest."

"What are you talking about we don't even have time down here." Ellana sighed, catching up to him, "I just need a few minutes to... center myself." she said instead of saying 'nap'. She wanted to speak on the level of her usual fire team but she felt she couldn't do that with Osiris, at least not at the moment.

"Good then you should never be tired." 

Ellana pinched her brows together, "Did... did you just sass me?" she stopped when the other Warlock stopped.

"Am I not allowed to sass someone?"

"Osiris...? Sassing someone???? Nooooo....." Sagira giggled from her perch on his shoulder.

He sighed and shook his head, feathers enunciating his exasperation, "Fine, but only for a short while." 

They chose a small outcropping of rock that seemed to be undisturbed, probably a small piece of cave that the Vex hadn't plundered to make room for their giant machine. Osiris set his weapon in his lap as he sat down on the white sand, Ellana took up a position on the opposite side of the small cave. 

Might as well look the part...

Ellana positioned herself with three glowing orbs in front of her. The Solar energy looked like three mini suns circling one another. It was a game Ellana played with herself sometimes when she had to meditate in the Warlock halls. It also helped her rest her mind and refocus. Sometimes simplifying the world just in front of you eased the burden of being alive for so long.

Pearl remained in his Guardian's headspace at this point. He flew through the glass columns and walls etched with complex data codes. It was one of the ways that Ellana had been able to comprehend the Ghosts' bio-digital world inside her own head and Pearl decided to keep the visuals.

He was double checking some code when abruptly out of the corner of his optic he saw movement. Nothing ever moved in here unless Ellana shook to her very core. 

Quick as he could he flew over to where he'd seen intruder and rounded a corner just in time to see Sagira disappear into the next hallway scanning for something. 

"Sagira!" Pearl yelled, his voice echoing unnaturally against the room. The white ghost sped after her and finally caught up but she didn't stop moving, "Sagira!" Pearl growled, "What are you doing in here?!"

"I'm looking for something." she started scanning a nearby column and went in a couple of circles before deciding it wasn't there and moving on.

"Look Sagira I know we're bonded and all because of that weird cult machine, but that doesn't give you the right to just barge in here and tinker with things!! She's MY Guardian!"

"I'm not tinkering with anything." Sagira flew around another wall again.

"You...! Wait... you aren't??" Pearl tried to keep up, Sagira was quick to decide where she was going and he almost ran into the walls a couple times.

"Of course not, like you said, she's your Guardian... technically ours... but mostly yours." she soared down a long hallway, looking to either side, noticing how compact the code was becoming. Then it opened up into a spacious empty room with six columns on either side of a massive door. Chains were tangled between the pillars that seemed to have no end where they linked. They glowed hot when Sagira tried to get closer so she backed away, looking at the door on the far side.

"I meant to ask... is that door her old life?"

"Yes... it was... a lot more recent than most Ghosts now days do." Pearl sighed heavily. He didn't like coming to this area of Ellana's consciousness. It sent a cold feeling through his circuits. Sagira braved getting closer again, seeing the nasty cracks in the black glass that made up the entirety of the space. The lines of code pulsed gently with green light.

"Looks like you two had a rough start."

"Yeah... we did." Pearl looked at his reflection on the floor. Even with the dark glass he could see the scar on his optic. 

He glanced up, "Anyway, what are you doing in here??"

"Trying to find some specific details about Ellana, I saw them before now I just have to remember where." immediately the aged gold Ghost went sailing down the hall the opposite direction.

"If I may drill down to the bed rock of my question, what and why?"

"I'll tell you the why." she turned and looked at him, "For Osiris."

"For... Osiris...? What?"

"That's two whats now." Sagira quickly scanned another wall, "Let me put it this way, it's been several... well... out here anyway... a really really long time since Osiris has had anyone in his company but me. Aha!" she scanned a particular endless spiral of his code and the entire wall lit up for a few seconds, "Got it! Come with me!" she said excitedly. She opened up what could only be described as a portal and hopped in. Pearl hesitated till she poked her eye over the edge and gestured for him to follow.

Pearl exited Ellana's mind and into Osiris'. 

At first he was very discombobulated, his sense of which was which rolling. Once he settled Pearl looked up and around. The images of Sagira's world inside her Guardian were of stone and metal. The sun's rays could be seen tilting against certain walls, the code here glowed a warm honey yellow. Here and there an occasional chair could be seen, like someone would be sitting and reading.

"Welcome to my humble abode. Feels weird doesn't it?" 

"That's a... small way to put it..." The white ghost felt very powerless here, he didn't know where anything was or if he could decipher any of it. Sagira was a very senior Ghost, having been alive for long enough that even other Ghosts knew and respected her experience.

Pearl look a closer look at her handiwork in creating the Guardian that was called Osiris. She stayed there and watched him.

"This is all brilliant..." Pearl growled, feeling his inexperience very painfully.

"Thank you, feel free to poke around when you want." he looked up at her, "Just don't do it when they're awake... they notice it faster.... or at least Osiris does." she flitted down a nearby tunnel, "I think it's only fair, if I have access to your Guardian, you have access to mine. Call it a gift of trust."

"Hey! Wait for me!" Pearl dashed after Sagira. They went through several different areas till Pearl was thoroughly lost since he didn't have time to read anything. One constant however was that the sun's rays were always shining somewhere, didn't matter how odd the structures were. 

Sagira found a wall with a similar endless spiral to the one she'd found in Ellana's mind. The prodded it to life, light filling in the cold language.

"What... are you doing?"

She accessed a holographic panel that appeared in front of her and she 'copy pasted' Ellana's information into it, "You know how our Guardians are made from an eternal cosmic god?" the language began mixing, picking and choosing certain clusters of symbols from Pearl's spiral, "One of the reasons I chose Osiris is his dedication to save humanity.... even if it's a thankless duty with the methods he chooses. However, organic creatures for the most part... were not meant to live forever. 'Forever' is a very.... very long time to comprehend."

Green over lapped the gold, not overwhelming it but hovering just above the wall, almost like a sub note.

She finally turned to Pearl, "I see our bond as an opportunity to... help Osiris not lose that soft part of humanity that's so important. We don't need another.... you know... Thorn."

"You're manipulating him??" 

"No no... that would be disrespectful to him. I'm merely... encouraging certain things to be noticed." the green language above the wall started shifting, going from one cluster to the next several times before settling down, "He keeps himself distant emotionally especially after the Vanguard turned their back on them.... even Ikora, isolation is the worst thing a human can do to themselves in the long run."

A loud digital click followed by several beeps and the spiral locked itself in place, a strange mosaic of gold and green now. The words glittered when the sunlight touched them.

"It's just another way to take care of your Guardian, eternity can be very harsh on a heart that knew for sure it would.... sleep one day." Sagira watched Pearl reading the text, "Nothing big has to happen... but it would be rather nice to see him smile and laugh again." she sighed, "What do you think, Pearl? I'm asking as a friend."

The Light behind Pearl's optical glass softened a bit. He hadn't really thought about the far future with his Guardian... not like this. He'd figured everything would be the same old same old. It hadn't occurred to him that perhaps one day, Ellana would grow weary. 

It was all just an endless cycle of destruction and creation anyway. What did you live for in between?


	5. Chapter 5

A warm breeze helped the sand to sing against the larger rocks and ruins of the canyon, the sound of the rushing radiolarian made the quiet feel like it should be peaceful. It was the occasional howl of Vex that reminded you that you were not in a safe paradise.

Ellana opened her bright green eyes slowly and looked up as a pleasant ray of sunshine fell on her face. It hadn't been a long meditation, but she felt much better already. The Awoken stretched her arms first, then back, and unfolded her legs and turned her toes in small circles to get the feeling back into them. The three Solar spheres were still hovering in front of her so she pulled them into her hands and snuffed them out.

The Warlock stood and dusted her trailing robes off the best she could. She always hated wearing them in sandy places. 

"Osiris?" she glanced over at the man and couldn't help but smirk when she saw him still sitting there with his eyes closed. His breathing deep, slow and even. The man had fallen asleep. 

"Wonder when was the last time you rested... hey Pearl... Pearl?" in the moment it took for Ellana to get worried her Ghost teleported in front of her face.

"Yes! I'm here, like here. Here. What's up?" he twittered, twirling the back half of his gears.

"While we wait for Osiris to finish resting... did you finish analyzing those odd energy spikes?" Ellana said in a low tone.

"Energy spikes?" if the poor Ghost could sweat he would be right now, "Uh... nope no not yet. I had some trouble decrypting some things but I'm almost done." he sighed in relief when Ellana just shrugged and walked away.

She felt the sun again, but only on one side of her body. The Warlock frowned and looked up, only to see stars and darkness above. Concern trickling into her senses, Ellana went to investigate where the light was coming from. 

A tear had bubbled open quietly on the other side of the river, this one seemed stable enough to allow the scene on the other side to be witnessed occasionally. 

At some point in the timeline this hadn't been a canyon. The familiar waves of yellow grass rustled pleasantly on the other side. One of the pink trees had its trunk right up against the portal, a few branches popped and crackled, then fell to the ground, part in its appropriate timeline, part not. The branch withered away unnaturally fast.

Curiosity overwhelmed her sense of caution. This was one of those precious moments that Ellana had always longed for. Normally she would be rushing from one check point to the next, without being able to take a breath. She slung her weapon across her back so her hands would be free and approached the portal. 

"Ellana..." Pearl said with warning.

"Don't worry I'm not stepping through it." Careful not to touch the edges, Ellana got as close as she dared and peeked into the land of beauty Mercury had once been. It was nice to look at the scenery and not be running somewhere or being attacked.

The long blades of grass sang as the cool breeze rustled them together, carry the smell of sweet foliage to Ellana's senses. She inhaled the moment deeply. When she opened her eyes she abruptly noticed something amidst the roots of the partially destroyed tree. It was a black round seed with pink leaves shaped much like propellers.

She glanced back at Osiris who appeared to still be asleep. Not that she would need his permission to do anything, she just didn't want to be watched. Carefully, Ellana reached into the tear slowly, the air rippling like water around her hand. Since no pain started she stretched across space and time and snatched the seed up. 

She turned it over in her hands carefully, warm to the touch from Sol. She half expected it to wither just like the branch but it remained solid and healthy. Ellana couldn't help but smile at her small treasure.

"You're going to keep it??" Pearl exclaimed as she tucked it into one of her physical robe pockets.

"Yeah, why?"

"It doesn't belong here though!"

"Yes it does, it's on Mercery."

"You know what I mean!"

"What are you two bickering about?" 

Ellana's heart skipped a couple beats, "Oh my ball in the sky... Osiris stop being sneaky!" she dramatically whipped around to look at him. In the time it had taken her to grab the seed pod the man had woken up and traveled across the river. 

His eyes betrayed the smile under his mask. His amusement only annoyed Ellana further, she may be a paracausel being in the universe but Ellana was always easily startled by her own team mates. A warm feeling crept up onto her face where her cheeks were darkening so she folded her arms and turned away to hide her embarrassment.

"Pearl!"

"Right, energy spikes." He swooped in between them and showed a 3D map of what was at least the physical canyon, "Whatever is leaking this energy keeps moving, my predictions show it might appear again, but further down and higher up. The Vex movements are hard to track here, but I think they're chasing whatever IT is."

Ellana zoomed in on the map, "Yikes... that's a steep climb. Should we go get the ship?"

"If Pearl's calculations are correct... which they are I double checked his math." she nudged him playfully, "As long as we return to this hemisphere of time flux here or here, we should be fine." she pointed out several lighter layers over the map, each representing a different portion of the canyon. Like several different rivers of fluids that couldn't mix.

"A sound plan." Osiris reached into his robes and pulled out the strange dice to create a portal to the top.

Up top they arrived during the rising of Sol. It was the only time when Mercery was at its coolest. Pearl informed them that it would take a bit of time for the ship to arrive since they were actually quite a long ways away. 

The horizon was unfamiliar here, they were no where near the Infinite Forests' entrance. Ellana removed her helmet and undid her bun. She gave her head a good scratch all over since it had been quite a while since she'd taken it off. Of course this made her hair a long hot mess but she didn't care, her scalp was satisfied. 

Off to the side Osiris was off in his own world. He checked his weapon to make sure it wasn't jammed, asked Sagira to pull up a few digital documents which he almost immediately dismissed, then he started pacing along the ridge. 

Sagira abruptly flew over to Ellana, "Well aren't you pretty!"

"Nah... I'm boring, either my hair is up in a helmet or I just don't style it at all... Pearl can tell you, I'm lazy." the awoken took the ghosts' opinion with a grain of salt. Living machines often had to learn what was desirable among organic creatures.

The white Ghost rolled his optic, "It's a pain to get her dressed and out the door. Best Warlock in her class but she still can't put her hair up nicely without coaching."

"Might as well crop it close like Ikora." Ellana giggled, though she was positive she wouldn't look good in short hair.

Sagira chuckled, "Noooo don't do that! Too bad you have to wear a helmet, doesn't she look pretty with her hair down Osiris?" she turned and looked the man directly in the eye. He paused mid step and glanced at his partner. Ellana felt the heat rising in her face again since she knew her hair looked a mess from before. Osiris merely shrugged and turned around, saying something in a language Ellana didn't recognize, to which Sagira responded in the same tongue. 

"Don't look at me! I can barely translate the sub Hive dialects." Pearl said with an air of sheepishness. 

"Don't worry Ella he's just being shy." Sagira flew back to her Guardian, they continued their secret conversation quietly. 

Pressing her dark painted lips together, Ellana reached for her hair tie and realized it wasn't there, "Shoot..." she looked all around the rock she was sitting on. Only when she stood up did a little glint of the clasp catch her eye, it had bounced off the cliff and down.

Pearl looked at where she was looking and basically rammed himself into her chest and pushed her back, "Nope!! Noooo you're not going after that, you have more on the ship. There will be no resurrecting you over a silly hair tie."

"But... I like that one it has a pretty flower on it." The Warlock swatted Pearl away from her face and backed away, "Ok ok ok! I was joking!" she noticed Osiris and Sagira looking at them, "What? You've never died making a silly decision before?" 

"Not recently no." Osiris said slowly.

"Great... well... professional Warlock and Guardian here, god slayer and universe saver at your service!" Ellana rambled to add to her blushing face. Here she was in the presence of a legend and she just couldn't appear graceful in any manner. Luckily by this point the ship had arrived so Ellana could be just busy enough to keep her mind off the matter. 

On the way up back into the air, the ship stuttered and the lights flickered. 

Pearl looked around nervously, "Uuuhh..."

"Hang on, take the wheel I know what's wrong."

Pearl went to grab the holographic 'seat' that appeared for Ghosts between the ship's controls and was abruptly bumped out of the way by Sagira, "I wanna fly!" the hologram wrapped around the little machine and the console lit up. 

"Oh my Traveler! Sagira! Be gentle!" Pearl exclaimed when the ship lurched to one side briefly.

"Oops." she giggled, taking a quick glance behind her before putting her full attention on the controls, "It's been awhile!" 

Curious, Pearl stole a glance down the hall only to see Osiris standing off to one side as his Guardian corrected her footing and continued on. She'd stumbled into the man. 

Pearl hovered close to Sagira and whispered, "I feel like you did this with intention."

"Moments, my precious Pearl. It's all about the moments." if she'd had a proper face, she would be smiling. Pearl stole a glance back when he heard footsteps again. 

This time he saw Ellana trying to put her hair back up and brushing past Osiris, apologizing with a hair tie in her mouth. Osiris looked a little uncomfortable at the proximity of the other Guardian. The ship wasn't that big to begin with, even one person made it feel crowded.

"Fixed it." Ellana said as soon as she finished putting up her hair into a passable bun, "Holliday showed me how, says she can't do it properly till the part comes in."

"Some things never change with the Vanguard." Osiris growled, finally moving up to stand behind the pilot seat.

"Or maybe there's three wrecked ships in front of mine who need the part more since mine is still functional... mostly. Red war did a number on the foundries." Ellana popped a piece of candy into her mouth before taking the controls from Sagira. Osiris pressed his lips together but didn't add to the conversation. 

Once they arrived at their destination they still had to find the elusive anomaly amidst the rubble and ruins while still avoiding the Vex. Another needle in the haystack mission as Ellana would call it.

"'Scuse me!" the female Guardian slipped past Osiris again unable to avoid brushing against him in the tiny hallway. Sagira watched him get that look of discomfort again.

"You ok?" Sagira asked.

He cleared his throat, "Yes. I'm fine." 

Pearl went up beside the spikes ghost as the Warlock went to find the exit, "Is he?"

"He's fine... like I said I'm encouraging him to... smell the roses." she nudged Pearl with the flat edge of one of her spines.

"What...?" Pearl didn't get an answer since they all needed to depart the ship.

The Almighty was nearly straight above them, it actually cast a shadow of the part of the canyon they were in. Holes from fallen debris littered the ground and walls where the giant ship had started eating Mercury up.

The two Guardians walked up to the edge of the giant crater. Down below yawned a massive melting pool of radiolarian water falls, broken Vex gateways and structures that used to be apart of something bigger. The damage spread for miles before them and continued further down still. Flashes of light spread across the wreckage as Vex went from one quadrant to another, most disappearing underneath to the lower layers.

"Strange... the Vex are normally more efficient in repairing things." Osiris mused aloud. The wind here was actually quite harsh, causing most of his feathers to appear flat.

"Obviously they're being distracted by the something we're looking for."

"Something that concerns a Vex really really REALLY concerns me." Pearl mumbled from his spot in Ellana's scarf. 

All of a sudden the hairs on the back of Ellana's neck stood on end and that electric feeling tickled the air. She turned around just in time to see the grinning face of the Ahamkara as it slinked out of the shadows.

'I see you o' seeker mine.'

She yelled and leaped back on instinct just in time to avoid its approach and dropped straight off the cliff.


	6. Chapter 6

In the time that it took for Ellana to leap, a flare of dust and stone erupted all around. With a screech of desperation the dragon leaped after the Guardians.

In the moments between teeth and terminal velocity, Ellana's blood boiled hot and light erupted from her body. Sunsinger's couldn't fly per se but it would certainly make the landing a lot softer... if she could hold the form that long.

Osiris spread his giant wings to slow down his fall before whirling around to face the young Ahamkara. It thrashed and clawed at the air, unable to control itself with one bad wing. He pushed a wave of fire out and sent the small dragon careening off what little balance it had achieved.

With a howl and a nasty crack the young Ahamkara smashed against a Vex statue. It did not move.

Osiris turned around to face the chasm below. To his dismay there were tears in time everywhere on the way down.

"Well this is convenient!" Sagira said in his headspace, "The signals coming from somewhere down there!" Osiris flew aloft with Ellana, who still had her back to the world below. He saw her take a few deep breaths before turning and facing the dark just in time to navigate out of the way of a tear.

Within seconds they became the only source of warmth and light inside of the Vex's machine world. Ellana banked to one side carefully to avoid some flying Hydra that squealed in surprise when the two Guardians fell past it, leaving the air full of cinders and heat. Their passage downward was growing worryingly smaller and smaller, the structure of the Machine becoming less and less damaged. Then all of a sudden the machine opened into a gigantic cauldron of radiolarian fluid.

"On the left!" Sagira yelled over the open comm network. Ellana saw she was pointing out an outcropping of what appeared to be a walk way. Probably not intended to be one since the Vex didn't need them but that's what she was going to call it. She angled over to make the landing.

Flaring her wings wide to catch the wind, Ellana kicked out a massive burst of energy to slow her fall. Her stomach protested with the abrupt change in velocity.

Seemingly out of nowhere a Minotaur appeared next to Ellana just before she landed and snatched her up by the arm and swung her around violently before her flaming body melted its arm. She ignored the nasty sounding snap she heard in her body as she rolled and somehow landed on her feet.

Vex teleported all around her and began to swarm, despite the intense heatwave she sent their way to push them back. When she finally burned out she pulled out her hand canon and brought down a few more Vex before the air turned hot with malice.

Osiris landed on the pier still with full super and absolutely demolished the pack of machines, sending them partially melted and shredded into the lake of radiolarium.

With a dramatic sweep of his wings, he folded them close to his body and cinders blew off the end of his feathers and clothes as his super dissipated.

"Do you need assistance?" he asked when he noticed her arm hanging at an odd angle.

"That would be greatly appreciated."

Osiris walked behind her and took her dislocated arm in both hands. She couldn't help but notice he was still radiating heat, for some reason her nose picked up a trace of cinnamon and ash.

"On three." he said, he notice her look away and tense up slightly.

"Ok."

"One.."

She yelled in surprise when he popped the bone back into its socket.

"Ok... I feel like we need to get on the same page on what numbers are... but thank you." Ellana rolled her arm carefully to make sure it was proper.

"Beats regrowing the arm." with a tiny flash of light particles Pearl appeared and surveyed the area, "Well... so this is the machine that keeps the Forest running."

"Or did, till recently." Osiris dusted himself off.

Wish we could keep it broken honestly... but no we have to shut it down properly so the system won't go boom." Sagira sighed.

"Maybe if Wish Dragons didn't pop up out of nowhere it would be easier." Ellana knelt next to a Vex that was still twitching and sparking, fluid leaking out of its chest. Despite the flat surface they were on, when the glowing liquid did not pool all around the body, instead it slithered straight to the edge and dripped down into the lake.

"I made sure it was dead."

"That wasn't the one that chased me, it was too small... like a juvenile or something." Ellana removed her helmet so she could push loose hairs off of her face. Her saddened eyes remained on the now empty body. Osiris watched her curiously till she stood up.

"You can't possibly feel empathy for them."

She looked up at him, "So I can't mourn something even if it tries to kill me?"

"You shouldn't mourn them at all, they want nothing but to force everything to be them... which is nothing." he growled, "Do not cast emotions where they will not be received." the two Warlocks stared at each other for a few long minutes. Ellana straightened up slowly, pointed her hand canon at him and squeezed the trigger even as he flinched.

The bullet flew past him at a Hobgoblin that had been positioning itself for a shot. Its chest burst as the projectile hit and its body crumbled over the side.

He looked back at her angrily as she popped open her cartridge and slipped in a new set of bullets.

"I'm very painfully aware, of not sharing too much." she said, holstering her weapon. She brushed passed him without another word.

Osiris remained at a distance for a while and that was just fine with Ellana. She wasn't offended by his dislike for her emotional responses, annoyed perhaps but that was about it. It had been something that everyone even her own friends had criticized her for. It was a battle every organic being had when it came to fighting: don't humanize the enemy or you can't do the warfare you have to. She could hear the older Warlock arguing silently with Sagira in what she now assumed was his first language.

"I don't know how Sagira puts up with him." Pearl stole a quick glance behind them. The only light here were the beams of energy that shot between giant Vex statues and pillars. If you were a regular person you would require low light vision goggles to even comprehend what was in the dark shadows. This of course was not a problem for the Vex.

"I don't know how you put up with me. I've been nothing but trouble since you resurrected me." Ellana countered.

"Touche. But you don't just go off and do what you want to do... all the... time." the Ghost twittered nervously when she cracked a half smile.

"Honestly, I think he's just been around machines for too long... no offense." she hopped up onto one of the statues to try and get a better view of where they were going. On occasion they would run into massive rivers that drained out of the radiolarium lake, but eventually those would branch off either underground or just out of site. Ellana was curious exactly what part of the machine they were in... not that all Vex machines made sense with their design.

She kept half expecting to see the large bulk of an Ahamkara somewhere in the darkness but thankfully that fear was currently proving to be an unnecessary one. Pearl however her a few more anomalies in the area so they set out in the direction to the nearest one. It was then that Ellana noticed that Osiris and his Ghost had finally settled whatever they'd been arguing about. Or at least had had enough of each other that for now they were quiet.

Osiris noticed after a few minutes that the other Guardian kept looking back at him, "What?" he said flatly.

"You've forgotten what it's like, to interact with people haven't you?" she wrapped her pinkies together behind her back, allowing her rifle to swing freely against her midsection.

"Interacting with people got me kicked out of the Last City." he snorted, "At least outside of the walls those that live are free to speak their mind."

"You're also more alone."

"Alone does not frighten me, I've the strength to do what I need to do for Humanity on my own."

"And yet here I am helping you find a time anomaly."

He said nothing.

"You're only able to operate within the Forest as you do because you're able to make copies of yourself. Honestly I would hate hearing myself talk my voice is way too squeaky outside of my skull."

Again, nothing.

She shrugged the silence off and continued walking.

Their footsteps echoed in the vast empty hallways. Occasionally they would have to either find or make a pathway to where they needed to go next if they didn't want to waste time finding said pathway. Oddly enough, they found little to no resistance to meet them, unless they smashed something that the Vex deemed was worthy of offense. The lack of aggression was really starting to put Ellana on edge.

To spend this excess build up of energy, the Awoken started humming to fill the silence. The song started off with no particular direction. She tested out different combinations of notes till a string of them caught her fancy and she latched on to it.

Light warmed inside her body but did not boil over. Occasionally a flicker of flame would pass across her body, her green eyes glowed warmly. It wasn't strange to use music as a medium, this is what another Sunsinger had told her in training. Despite his objecting Titan friend. Music was just another way to channel energy, all energy was a wave in different forms. The universe was made up of waves. It wasn't an easy medium to use in battle, which is why many didn't care for it, but Ellana enjoyed this kind of energy. She wasn't good at it by any means but she enjoyed it.

She didn't keep track of the time since it was pretty useless in the anomaly area. The Warlock practically skipped and danced as they went. Laughter bubbled up in her throat but she withheld it. Osiris was probably annoyed enough with how she behaved she didn't need more daggers at the back of her head.

"Over there! Look!" Pearl exclaimed.

The neatly carved tunnels abruptly ended in a massive cavern that had collapsed all the way up to the surface. At the bottom of this pile of rubble a few underwater springs crashed down and had made a very large pool that drained off the neatly made Vex walkway. In the center was a derelict ship that had smashed down onto its side. Not too far off to the side a column of air rippled like heatwaves off the horizon. Three Hydras and their flocks of harpies were settled in a triangular design around the tear, connected by beams of light. It looked like the surface where they were repairing time except... for some reason this one wouldn't close completely so they merely contained it.

"As lovely as your music is little Singer," Osiris stepped up next to her and she stopped humming when she saw that he was glimmering like he was about to use his super, "Thank you."

"Sorry! I didn't realize..."

"Don't be, you have potential in that area of study." all signs of his irritation from before seemed to have disappeared. He stopped glowing as he approached the ship, he started looking for the identity of the machine on the side of the tail that wasn't missing its outer panels. He asked Sagira to run the numbers through her data bases.

Ellana hopped onto a boulder near the cockpit and took a peak inside, "This was one nasty fall." she said. Forming a small ball of Solar energy to give a little light, "Whoa... uuh... that's really unfortunate."

The nose had been crushed nearly flat, what was left of the pilots was was still here, the blood only just turning brown in the thinnest strands.

"Check inside, see if there were any passengers. Pearl! Come here."

"Hmm?" Pearl looked at Ellana who jerked her chin toward the other Warlock. With a heavy sigh he went to help the other Guardian.

After a little searching Ellana finally managed to squeeze her way into the ship. She scrunched her nose up at the stench of dead flesh.

Light flooded the area when Sagira joined her, "Here ya go!"

"Sagira?"

"I didn't have the correct information to look up the ships identity... must've deleted it to make room for Vex maps... those things are ginormous to store." the Ghost sounded annoyed.

"Oh... ok."

Most of the cargo's restraints had snapped in the tumble down into Mercury's bowls. The remains of two bodies were in there, poor souls crushed to death by the crates. One of the blood smears on the wall looked curious to the Warlock, she used her gloved hand to touch it and found it crunchy. The water outside must've come later, most of these remains were mummifying from the dry air.

Despite knowing what she would find, her heart still sank when she reached the passenger area. Here there were three strapped to their seats, eyes cloudy and skin taught. Their mouths hung open as if they were still screaming. Ellana frowned and dipped closer to one, it was rotting and mummifying at the same time. She looked up when the metal of the ship creaked. A very small point of rust on a nearby pole was slowly growing bigger the longer she watched it.

"Hmm." Sagira went up to each and every face, "Broken necks... probably from the ship spinning as it came down. Oh... oh poor thing." she pointed with her eye light at an EXO that had had a sharp object driven straight through their eye socket, "Really hope that happened after the neck snap."

"That's all you could hope for at that point... a quick death." her eyes surveyed the area again, "We're missing a body."

"We are?" Sagira looked around.

"Yeah, two pilots, two crew chiefs in the back, I would assume they'd sit there when they had guests." she pointed at a couple seats against the wall, uncomfortable but safe. The belts were unclasped so the crew must've gotten up at some point to try and secure something in the cargo hold.

"Three guests... four seats." she pointed to the remaining seat.

"They could've had only three guests? I don't know... there's a lot of blood in here."

"Let's see if we can find the roster of this flight."

Sagira took to the computers while Ellana sorted through what documents were data pads and paper.

"Ugh... no good, the computers are fried... maybe the black box?" Sagira dove into a precarious looking hole to try and find the object.

"We found it!" Pearl yelled from the other side of the wall.

Something crunched under Ellana's foot when she turned. Looking down, she saw it was a piece of metal with a symbol on it. The Awoken frowned and picked it up, "Interesting..."

Outside, Osiris was standing next to a loose panel he'd cleaned off. Next to him Pearl was holding out a hologram with a very very long list. Ellana glanced at the triangle of Vex near them but they hadn't moved.

"So this ship was called NM-024, medium cargo class. Here's the fun part, it took off shortly after the Collapse and was reported missing. Cargo was listed as medical supplies, a couple of coma chambers or something like that. Also the full crew and four passengers."

Osiris sighed heavily, "A tear must've swallowed up the ship... but what was it doing on Mercury?"

"Who knows, might've been rouge for all we know." Ellana held up the pin she'd found, "It's not exactly the same, but this looks like a New Monarchy badge, like before it became the faction we know today."

Osiris made a sound of disgust, "That faction wasn't much different than the Speaker with their intentions. We've wasted enough time here, let's move on."

Ellana lagged behind, she looked down at the old/not old pin in her hand. Abruptly she turned on her heel and climbed straight back in to the NM-024. Ignoring the call of Pearl, she rummaged through the disaster that was the cargo hold.

The Guardian shoved crates just as tall as her over trying to satisfy that itch in her mind about the whole situation. She stood on top of one of the bloodied containers to get a better view of the chamber. Osiris ducked into the ship and just stood off to the side watching her. Pearl was afraid he was about to get grumpy, his instead his eyes showed curiosity.

"Ellana?" he inquired.

The female Warlock bit her lower lip gently and didn't answer. She dropped down and picked up a chain that appeared to be snapped, one side still linked to the floor. Her mind was working faster than the deterioration being caused by the nearby portal.

"What does medical supplies have to do with chains?"

"Hold down the shipping containers?"

"Have you ever seen Holliday give chains to hold down cargo? Aviation practices haven't changed significantly other than adding space to them. Nope... no they were holding something closed." she pointed at Pearl, "You mentioned coma chambers right?"

"Uh... yes?"

Ellana looked over every inch of the cargo hold and finally in the darkness she spotted something, something that didn't quite belong there. She dropped off her perch and walked over to the tiny wink of light. Picking up a piece of shielding with one hand, she looked down to see a cracked curved little plate with a pearlesque hue to it. It was the only thing in the room that didn't appear to be slowly breaking apart.

Hesitation made her pause with her hand just above the odd object.

She picked it up.

Nothing happened.

Ellana swallowed her nervousness and took the object to Osiris, "See? It's an Ahamkara scale I think, they were transporting these creatures. They somehow found a few survivors of the Great Hunt."

"... and now they're here in the future." he reached out and plucked the scale from her palm to examine it further. Sagira flew above all of them and scanned the entire area.

"If her theory is correct as well as my assumptions... there were at least four of these... Ahamkara. Two of them bigger than others..." she continued to talk but Osiris had stopped listening.

At first he was just examining the broken scale in his hands, now he couldn't but stare at it and admire its beauty. Such a shame that a wondrous creature caused so much grief.

'... seeker?'

The Guardian realized his mistake and quickly dropped the scale. It clattered against the floor with an unnatural ring.

"Are you alright?" Ellana asked, concern in her eyes.

He nodded, "Yes... yes I am." he wiped his hand on his coat like that would get rid of his tingling nerves, "Let's go... before I... let's go."


	7. Chapter 7

Being a coward was not in a Guardian's nature... for the most part. However Ellana couldn't help but notice that anxiety would always run amok in her head whenever they lingered so long in a place where Light didn't belong. If the long connections of digitized information and long rivers of solarium weren't there, Ellana would've sworn they were in a tomb.

'Might as well be... these things are ghosts of what once was.'

Sometimes she hated her own thought train.

They were close to their next target, Osiris suggested a little bit of rest before they made the final trek which was mostly vertical to them and would take a considerate amount of energy.

"Where exactly are we headed? Like what part of the Machine?" a moment of silence, "Osiris?"

She saw the feathers of his garb tilt up from the floor, "Uh... We're approaching one of the main nodes where all of the information is processed. Or at least, that's the simplest way to explain it. It has-."

"Yeah we don't care." Sagira interrupted, "We can't destroy it right now anyway... I mean we could but you know... the whole boom goes the galaxy thing?"

They'd chosen a small hallway that led to nowhere (physically at least). It appeared that the Vex hadn't used it in quite some time, they'd probably started a branch of the machine and then recalculated half way through.

Osiris returned from his post at the entrance way and sat directly across from Ellana. Sagira summoned a drinking container into his hand and he nodded in thanks before partaking. He toyed with the cap for a minute, eyes staring through the floor. Wrapped up in a shawl Pearl had put away for her until now, Ellana watched the Warlock think for only a moment before closing her eyes.

"I owe you an apology." next to Osiris, Sagira twirled around in a couple ridiculous circles. He snatched her out of the air and held her still in his lap.

She knitted her eyebrows together with confusion, "For what?"

"Calling you out on feeling for the Vex. Now I still stand by what I said, but it wasn't necessary for me to... judge you."

Ellana opened her eyes this time and sat up straight, "Have you no feelings for any of the other races out there? No sadness that we have to fight at all?"

"No."

"Then I feel sorry for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ellana sat forward now, "I don't believe in a universe of eternal peace... not anymore anyway. I remember... just a tiny bit from my former life... and wishing for a dream like that is... unideal." she struggled for the proper words, "But to not have compassion in a world where it diminishes every day... now that is something I can't do."

"Ikora told me once that the Vex themselves... that fluid stuff... it's organic in nature. So that means at some point, the Vex we fight today were something else... something that cried out into the darkness for mercy and received none." she played with a little fire in one hand, "Now they are slaves to the desire that is the Vex's intent." she closed her fingers and the fire disappeared. Osiris looked again at the ground for a few minutes, ignoring the struggling Sagira in his hand.

"Compassion, Osiris."

They made eye contact again.

"If I don't have compassion for the world... how can I have it for myself? Everything suffers and struggles at one point or... forever. I mean... you'd tried to take upon your shoulders a whole war spanning realities... that's... that's a very large burden to carry alone."

"It must be done."

"Yes it does, but even Atlas Telamon gets weary of holding the heavens."

Something crossed Osiris' face that Ellana didn't recognize at first, then she felt it in her chest. Osiris was growing tired, not in the physical sense. What good was a strong body if your spirit was crushed.

"I'm not saying stop what you're doing, Osiris. But you know... wouldn't hurt to get more help than you've gotten... especially with Ikora being the head Warlock back at the City. Hell, even your little Cult wants to help you. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them! Sagira would still be sitting on Ikora's bookshelfs as a memory to you."

He snorted, "I'm not dealing with those Cultists ... they were the ones who... helped get me kicked out." he struggled to say the last part of his sentence, putting a lot of his massive ego aside. This made Ellana grin and to her surprise he tossed a small pebble at her boot in response.

"Whoa whoa whoa... the great Osiris throwing a tantrum?" Ellana's attempt at stifling her laughter just ended up in her snorting and feeling just embarrassed enough to hide her burning cheeks behind her shawl.

The man stood up and finally released Sagira, "I will think on your words. About compassion."

"Compassion for your fan club? Ok ok I'm sorry!" Ellana hid further under her shawl when she got glared at. However there was no disapproval in his face. He was very well practiced at steeling most of his emotions. Yet Ellana could only feel loneliness from the man. Perhaps it had something to do with their connection through Sagira? Ellana frowned underneath her shawl pile as she entertained this thought. They'd been so busy these past... what was it weeks? A month? that their unusual connection hadn't crossed her mind until now.

Ellana slammed the breaks on that thought train. She didn't need to start feeling uncomfortable now of all times.

Finally, the Guardians settled down into a resting state. By this time they were very aware that the Vex were letting them roam around freely, so until the problem was solved, they felt comfortable enough to rest at the same time.

With a wink of light Sagira barged into her other Guardian's headspace and flew around wildly till she found where Pearl was working.

"Pearl!"

With a feminine yelp other ghost split up into several different pieces that flailed around until he regained his composure, "Don't do that!"

"Ah I see where she gets it from!"

"I'm still not used to anyone else being in here." Pearl growled. He huffed his way back to the console he'd been hovering over, "What do you want? I'm busy."

"Did you not see what just happened outside?! Osiris apologized... he never apologizes!"

"It might help his demeanor if he did more often." Pearl responded. He pushed a few more holographic buttons in and the entire console sank back into the glassy ground. A pulse of green waves rippled across the endless rows of code.

"I'm just saying I think he's warming up to her!"

"Osiris? Warm?" he squinted his optic, "Wait that sounds like some weird fleshy joke never mind!" Sometimes he really hated being around organic beings... maybe he should've chosen an EXO. He went to the next console and it rose out of the floor at his command.

"What are you doing?" Sagira asked, peaking over his left side.

"Trying to make some sort of... defense against the Ahamkara. It gets creepy in here when that thing speaks... but since we've never encountered them it's difficult, since I don't have much data to work with."

"Yeah, I don't think there's too much you *can* do."

"That's not comforting." Pearl glowered at her.

"Sorry. You're right. Hmm..."

Pearl suddenly looked up, "Oh before you go, could you look at something for me?"

"What? Uh... sure!" she followed her friend till they returned to the wall with the strange circular patterns. Sagira noticed immediately that it had changed somewhat.

"I uh... wanted to try this stuff slowly... so I've only been adding little snippets here and there." Pearl made the wall light up so that the holographic characters from Osiris could be seen easier. The 'footnotes' that now hovered over different sections were sparse and far between, nowhere near as elaborate as Sagira's own rendition.

"Am I at least copying the method correctly?"

Sagira looked at the wall from several different angles, "Wow, you're a quick study! Impressive!"

"Now I'm not going overboard ok! He doesn't need to be a distraction." if Pearl had had arms he would be folding them crossly.

"Of course! You don't have a stubborn old bastard like I do. I have to get suuuuper creative to make him think it was his idea." Sagira gave him a playful little bump, "I'm proud of you! Stepping outside your comfort zone!"

"Oh... uh... thank you?" He couldn't help but feel a flush of happiness. Sure the Ghosts exchanged ways to improve themselves and their Guardians, but never had the discussion been so deep that it ended up inside of the headspace. Pearl looked up at his design and internally sighed. He wanted to work on the notes more but they were just too close to battle for him to be distracted.

The Ahamkara had been driven to extinction for a reason... and that reason made Pearl very very nervous.

As soon as they were finished resting they made their way to the sheer cliff face that they knew they had to scale. It was a mixture of natural occurring rock and Vex architecture.

"Well... here we go." Ellana crouched to get her sprint ready. In response a glittery blue glow appeared around her boots, the Transversive Steps coming to her aid. She sprinted and took one inhuman leap up to the first edge. As she settled herself she felt a wave of heat hit her back as Osiris landed next to her, he folded his fiery wings down and they disappeared.

"Yeah yeah yeah... show off." she missed his coy smile since she turned around.

The climb was tedious and full of surprises but non that got the Guardians killed (much to everyone's relief). The further they climbed the more Ellana noticed the sounds of Vex squealing in distress. Also it seemed that every line of information and every radiolarium river seemed to pool in the chamber above. Occasionally the ground would rumble and several boulders would come flying their way. These ones two halves of different colors... something was digging.

An eerily familiar roar bellowed above them.

Ellana looked up just in time to see a shower of Vex pieces come flying off the cliff side at an alarming speed. Osiris yanked her to him and covered them with a flaming shield that prevented their skulls from being caved in by the torsos of a couple of Minatours and several large rocks.

"Alright, I know you can't make that last jump so hold on." he wrapped his arms around her waist before giving a burst of energy from his wings as they formed.

The sight that greeted them was both wondrous and terrifying.

In perfect symmetry the beams of energy and radoilarium funneled into the center where it fed a massive globe. Six different kinds of giant Minds surrounded the globe, built in to the platforms that held them in position. The room sparkled and spit with lightening occasionally, the amount of energy and information being passed through this one point alone would've powered all of Earth for centuries.

At the base of each giant's platform was an army of silver Vex, some were assisting the Minds, others were fighting off what they'd been chasing.

Their moving anomaly was indeed, an Ahamkara. However it wasn't just a space dragon, it was one the size of a warehouse, two who's heads met its shoulder and three little ones that stayed close to their parents feet. The giant matron of the group hissed at the Vex, scales standing on end. When they didn't cease their advance she spit a stream of fire, leveling four squadrons at once.

"Is that the one that hunted you?" Osiris asked.

"That's the worst part... it isn't." Ellana readied her weapon though it wouldn't do much good. There were simply too many of them... unless the Vex continued to leave them alone in their hunt.

"That ship had a breeding pair of Ahamkara with them... the idiots!" Osiris growled as he undid the safety on his scout rifle.

"Well... I mean it could've been worse. They could've intentionally fell into our future." The Awoken squinted trying to see better, even with the many layers of protection and technology over her face she was having a problem even comprehending what she was looking at. There was so much energy here, it was blinding.

"They're already fighting, we just need to tip it in the Vex's favor. This is their territory they have the advantage." Osiris moved into position, both Guardians mirroring each other's movements with military precision.

"Pearl!" Ellana hissed and he summoned one of h er favorite rocket launchers. She knelt behind a small pillar that had been knocked over while the dragons had dug their way into the Node. She loaded it up and peeked through the scope. It was really a moment where she wasn't exactly sure what to shoot. If they didn't need to worry about exploding Sol or Earth it would be just so easy to knock the nearest Mind off its pedestal. On the other hand, there were very dangerous dragons that the Guardians had hunted to extinction for a reason.

Wishful thinking was set aside.

Just as she squeezed the trigger something yanked her weapon up and the rocket up toward the ceiling. Balance offset by the kick of the weapon, Ellana fell backwards. Before she even hit the ground someone was on top of her. All she saw was a blurred upward swing with a blade and instinctively she blasted energy out, knocking whoever it was away.

Scrambling to her feet, weapon at the ready she fired at the shadow but the disappeared in the chaos as dust and rock showered down from the rocket's explosion.

Heart hammering in her throat, Ellana tried to reacquire her attacker. The sounds of screaming and electronic static filling her ears to the point of overwhelming.

She saw the dust shift in the shape of a person just in the corner of her eye. Turning on her heel she didn't have time to aim since the attacker grabbed the barrel of her rifle with wicked speed and yanked it out of her hands so hard the clip that kept it hanging on her chest snapped off.

It was moments like these she was so glad to have made friends among the Titans and Hunters, a lot of Warlocks made the mistake of focusing too much on their abilities to save them. Ellana traded blow for blow with this shadow until there was an opening and she pounded a flaming fist into the person's chest and the small explosion sent the attacker flying back. However they were nimble and managed to keep their feet.

Panting heavily, Ellana finally had a few seconds to actually look at her attacker. Their garb was torn and dirty with remnants of New Monarchy colors. A torn up cloak covered their face along with a cracked helmet.

He wobbled a bit on his feet a bit, stunned from the charged fist.

"Don't... touch her." his voice was scratchy and dry. He brought up the blade, the tell tale signature of a Hunter.

'Well that explains the missing passenger!' Pearl squeaked.

That also explained why Ellana felt like she was fighting in a Crucible match. Who better to challenge a Guardian but another Guardian.

'Ellana something's wrong...'

The dust had finally settled, revealing a less than ideal spectacle of the smaller dragons taking notice of the squabble near the cliff.

'Not now, Pearl.' Ellana growled in her head. She had no awareness of where Osiris was at this point. Hopefully getting a better angle.

The Hunter swayed strangely where he stood, "Don't touch her." he repeated, head lolling on its hinges. Behind him, the Matriarch that had just abolished the entire army before her turned and looked straight at Ellana, silver eyes glowing.

One of the smaller male Ahamkara made a very strange chortling sound in his throat, a bit of drool dripped from his teeth. Ellana felt a chill crawl across her skin as she recognized the hunger.

"Guardian! Please listen to me!" Ellana tried. The man tilted his head toward her at a ver odd angle. He was muttering something, it got louder and louder as he started to twitch wildly.

"Let stillness embrace you!" he screamed.

'He doesn't have his Ghost!' Pearl yelled.

'What?!"

'His Ghost his Ghost isn't there! Kill him!'

The Warlock had enough time to block him as he lunged toward her. His blade bounced off her gauntlets at first but then he quickly started going for the weak points in her armor, the joints, her neck or her legs. Ellana's Steps gave her just enough mobility to keep up with the Hunter's deadly footwork.

Seemingly satisfied that she would no longer be disturbed, the Matriarch started to climb up to one of the Minds. It let off several beeps and warbles in distress. It wanted to defend itself but ever since it had been built into the main node and connected to the network it simply couldn't move.

Just in time a giant Minatour teleported between them and knocked the dragon down by her face, teeth and blood flying. She snarled and knocked the other behemoth off of the pedestal only to whirl around, eyes wide as the screams of her youngest overwhelmed the sounds of the Vex.

The site of two charred corpses greeted her eyes and Osiris in his full blazing glory. He stared back at with a challenge and she answered with an furious roar that shook the cavern.

'Protect me o' seeker mine!' her voice was thick with authority and rage.

Ellana got her feet swept out from under her at last and to her horror a sharp pain pierced her chest as the Hunter slammed his blade into her and twisted. Pearl flooded her body with endorphins trying to keep her from outright passing out from the pain. That was all he could do for he feared leaving her headspace at the moment. He couldn't remain inside if she went under.

He hovered over her a moment, placing a hand on the faceplate of her helmet, "I will help you... soon... stay still." he whispered like he was trying to comfort a child. He twisted again as he stood up just for good measure before running to the Matriarch's aid.

All Ellana could hear was the beating of her own heart. A frustrated squeal came from her lips as she tried to move. He'd gotten her right in the stomach so it was only a matter of time before she bled out. She reached for her hand canon but realized with terror that the Hunter had taken it.

Fluids began to pool in places they shouldn't have been able to. The Awoken female stopped trying to move and started to listen past her nerves pulsing with trauma. She was vaguely aware of a large shadow hovering over her. Her vision was fading.

'Tell me o' seeker, what do you wish?' it was the smaller male. She could feel it, that longing urge to spill her inner most secrets. Instead of that Ellana focused on finding the inner flame. The music that Sunsingers could hear on that edge between life and oblivion.

The dragon's presence was so strong it was stifling her own thoughts. Now she understood why even the bones of these creatures were even taboo.

'Tell me your wish... and I shall grant it to you.' he purred with a little more insistence.

Oh it was on the tip of her tongue no matter what other barriers of thought she flung up. She could feel oblivion looming closer and closer. Darkness was beginning to creep into the headspace, Pearl closed his optic and let out a Light fused burst of energy. He heard Sol's song in and he grasped its commands.

He yelped when she grabbed grabbed him by the nostrils, blood poured out of her wound as her body went into an unnatural override and began to produce blood, adrenaline and fill her lunges with oxygen, "I wish you were dead!" Ellana growled.

Her scream filled the air as her body burst into flames, it repaired her wound as well as scorched the male's face. It squealed in pain, tossing his head about wildly and tripping over a new wave of Vex.

Near the minds, the Matriarch was hovering over the fight going on between the rogue Hunter and Osiris. Despite not having a Ghost he still fought with the same lack of fear that all Guardians did.

She hissed deep in her throat and attempted to snap Osiris up in her jaws when he stumbled but missed. She didn't want him dead, she wanted him to suffer under her power.

'You will dance in place of my children o' seeker!' the presence of her voice was defining. Echoing in between the ears and getting progressively louder. Osiris held his ears as if it would help stifle the noise, he received a hard kick to his gut and was shot in both legs to force him down.

"Osiris!" Ellana yelled, but her voice was not heard.

A wave of Vex surged into the calamity, another Minatour the size of a Gate Lord appearing with its army. The Lord waved its massive weapon and a cage of energy appeared, dropping open once it hit the floor. The Vex stood still but alert.

The pile of scales unfurled itself to reveal the Ahamkara that Ellana had first run into, the infection of Vex tech had caused it to have multiple bulbs for eyes on the one side of its face.

They all hissed in unison, scales pinned up and growls pushing through their teeth. Now known as the Patriarch, the monster of Mercury realized where he was now and who he was with.

"No no no no no no! Go away! GO AWAY YOU FILTHY THING!" the Hunter howled, pointing Ellana's hand canon at Patriarch and fired every bullet until it was empty. But he had no Light, the bullets bounced harmlessly off Patrarch's scales. The smaller males, young adults it seemed since they were significantly smaller than the infected one, paced back and forth around Matriarch, torn between fighting and running. Patriarch's lips pulled back into a hideous sharp toothed grin.

'Ellana! Pearl!' Sagira's voice was frantic. But it wasn't coming through their comms, it was coming through the bond that they shared with each other.

'Osiris is paralyzed while that dragon is still singing, get the dice from his coat and create a portal! Now!'

So much noise, Sagira was almost drowned out.

Ellana spent the last of her super to clear a path. For once she was thankful that the Vex didn't seem to care about her killing them. The Hunter was too busy clinging to Matriarch's leg, spitting curses and unintelligible phrases.

Not willing to give up her prey, Matriarch stood her ground and spit flame in front of her former mate when she'd decided he'd gotten too close.

Sliding to Osiris' side, Ellana quickly started rummaging through his robes trying to find what Sagira had described. The old Warlock was trembling, eyes clouded over as he fought the battle going on in his mind.

"Come on Osiris don't let your legend down now." she said, hoping somehow some way he heard her. Finally found what looked like three blue glowing dice, "Ok... uhhmmm... Sagira?" she ducked close against Osiris when the two males abandoned their Matriarch's side and started going at the other Ahamkara.

'It's dark seeker... let me see you.' Patrarch's whisper sent chills across Ellana's skin.

Another thought intruded into her mind, it was the urge to think of somewhere, anywhere that wasn't here. She pushed aside everything and focused on the first place that came to mind. The dice glowed brighter in response and when she held them up they shakily connected with each other and a triangular portal opened up next to them. It was not stable at all, but Ellana knew that if she didn't get out from between this family spat they were going to be consumed. She could feel the darkness... creeping at the edges of the battle.

'Seeker!'

In the chaos, Patriarch had found a moment to put his card sized head next to her. In the middle of picking up Osiris she froze, feeling her heart flutter with fear. He looked at her with his one normal eye and quite dexterously grabbed a piece of her robe that was soaked in blood. When Ellana tried to pull away he twitched his head hard enough that the robe ripped, causing her to lose her balance and tumble through the portal just as it slammed shut. Patriarch swallowed the blood soaked piece of cloth.

In Pearl's place, he heard a small crinkly sound that was growing louder and louder. He flew over to where it was.

A small crack had formed in the floor and luminescent webbing was slowly creeping out of it. Sometimes Pearl wished this place wouldn't take images from the imagination of an organic being.


	8. Chapter 8

A blast of heat and scented oils hit Ellana's senses for a moment before she collapsed on the carpeted floor. Her awareness of the room quickly began to grow dark and muffled. She focused only on Osiris next to her. He seemed at first to still be being tormented by the Matriarch's song but after a minute or so his eyes cleared and he attempted to push himself up.

Ellana wanted to follow his example but her body was growing heavy. Eventually darkness enveloped her vision.

"Seeker... oh seeker!" the cackling whisper slithered through her mind, closer to her thoughts than even Pearl dared to go. The Ahamkara must've created some sort of connection through eating her blood, that was the only exclamation Ellana could think of. 

Her vision returned, but she felt heavy like she was trying to swim through syrup. The images that built upon her memories showed a labyrinth of closed tunnels, might've been a ship she'd visited at one point... perhaps not in this life but the last.

A masculine voice chuckled, "Such a full heart for one so bent on destruction."

She felt the presence swoop in close to her so she ducked into the nearest hallway as fast as she could in her weakened state.

"Your mind is so bright and beautiful... seeker... I can finally see again!" the presence shifted again, still nearby but any closer. Ellana felt a very strong urge to respond, instead she focused all of her mental energy on remaining silent. It seemed that the tales of these silver tongued creatures were true.

"My family cast me out when I was afflicted... we're not so different you and I."

The lights flickered dangerously, like a ship losing power. Should she call out? Perhaps Pearl was here somewhere?

As if responding to her thoughts, she felt a stab of panic in her chest. It was so strong that she had to take a moment to breath and regain her feet.

"Tell me, what are the greatest desires of your heart, seeker?"

Ellana ducked away from a creeping shadow before moving on. Pearl was here somewhere, she just had to find where. Once they were reunited then perhaps she had a fighting chance.

The Patriarch tip toed carefully through the maze, like a spider careful to not shake its web. Everything in the mind represented a memory no matter how small, and he gorged on everything he witnessed.

"Even those with... a singular purpose for their lives have one desire... one wish..." 

Ellana finally broke out of the hallways and into a large spacious room. Here there were sparkling webs that covered everything... and seemed to continue growing. She was about to turn back when something wiggled franticly in the sticky light. 

Pearl was tangled in the web, probably caught trying to mount a defense against the Ahamkara. 

Eyes on the prize, Ellana carefully picked her way through the webbing, doing her best to not touch it. She finally got up to Pearl who's optic was staring up at her urgently. The Warlock set her hands ablaze and cut through the web quickly, tearing Pearl free from the silks. 

Clutching the trembling Ghost to her chest, Ellana turned and looked at the many different exits. This was her own mind why would would she be so lost in her own thoughts.

Picking a doorway at random she plunged through the maze again. It didn't matter where she went as long as the Ahamkara didn't get his claws on her. 

A great shadow was cast over her. She slid just in time behind a wall. Mercury's Monster paused, sensing the movement but not quite sure where.

"O' seeker gentle seeker... how do you survive in your existence of carnage." he chuckled as he drank up the surface memories he could get a hold of, "Heart overflowing with love only to be met with a never ending hunger. Do you perhaps wish you didn't have this love? Is that your wish? I can take it from you! I can set you free to kill without heart ache."

Ellana put her arms around her head, the urge to spill all the pain she had was just growing stronger and stronger. Was it so wrong to be a soldier of the Light and still have compassion? 

The sounds of crinkling crystal made Pearl notice that the glowing webbing was slowly crawling closer to them. He tried to wriggle out of his Guardian's hand but she was simply too strong.

Patriarch stepped slowly and carefully through the confused clutter of objects in the next room. He searched for it, the one thing that would push her over the edge. A wish given was much more potent than one stolen, especially from a Guardian.

Something clattered to Ellana's feet causing her to jump and scramble away. The dragon had found her but was not attacking. 

"Perhaps this is your wish?" 

"No no no no... don't turn around please!" Pearl squeaked from her hand. He held back a whimper when she only squeezed him harder. 

"Just walk away, Ella! Just walk!" he cried. 

She took a few stiff steps forward only to stop when the Patriarch moved and put his head in front of her. What would've been the Vex tech was simply missing from the dragon's face. He slipped closer, forcing her back toward the creeping webs and the object he'd dropped into the tunnel. His reptilian lips curled back into that horrific grin. 

Her foot hit the object, she stood precariously still. Patriarch got close enough that Ellana could feel its hot rank breath.

He gently nuzzled her chest with his large snout, shifting to sniff at the trembling little Ghost in her hand, "Is this your wish? To not be a failure, seeker? I can give you that power."

Ellana swallowed the words that the Ahamkara was trying to entice out of her. With the elder dragon this close to her, it was getting harder and harder to think...

The sharp scent of cinnamon and ash filled her nose, clearing her mind of the webbing that the Ahamkara was trying to weave through his words. 

A ball of anger filled her throat and despite her shaking she addressed the dragon, "Now listen here, you mind eating worm." she stepped forward, "I am not a failure... have I failed... yes... more than I care to admit!" she kept walking forward, one step at a time. The ground began to rumble, Patriarch's grin wavered.

"Back off!" Ellana found the strength to send a flash of fire, forcing Patriarch further back in a squeal of pain. In her mind the fire was green, much like the code in Pearl's part of her head. From his limited view in her hand, Pearl saw with dread that the large room glittered with the web.

The Guardian stopped walking... not of her choice but because her feet were stuck to the floor. Ellana finally took her eyes off the dragon and realized that she'd walked straight into a trap. 

"Good... you are strong seeker." Patriarch growled when the area rumbled again. 

Ellana looked around as things fell over and off shelves, "Pearl?"

"I don't know!"

She looked up at the dragon as he reared up above her, frills spreading wide, eyes hot with hunger. The Warlock twisted and chucked a screaming Pearl down one of the halls, "Go Pearl!! Run!! Get out of here!!"

"No!" Pearl righted himself in midair and went to fly back, topping only when a pair of teeth tried to snap at him. The Ahamkara wanted the Light, it would feast this day one way or another.

Blue flame filled the tunnel that scorched the dragon, forcing it back into the large room. Pearl looked up to see Osiris in his super, except that the fire was blue instead of red like Sol's. 

Sagira was at his side, using a little bit of gravity to 'grab' him and pull him with her, "Come on!"

"I won't leave her!"

Sagira yanked harder on the other ghost, "Trust! Us!" she grunted, the both of them tumbled awkwardly through a small portal. 

Osiris walked forward, his skin rippled with blue energy. As he stepped in to the chamber the webbing curled and sizzled into little puffs of smoke. He glanced at Ellana, seeing her shake where she stood. It only got worse when Patriarch curled around her, like protecting a treasure. The dragon settled around her like a cat with a mouse in its paws. 

"Ellana... focus on me." Osiris growled softly when she swayed a bit. He could see that the web on the floor was beginning to creep up her legs. The room rumbled again, bits of green flame flickered across the walls. She raised her eyes and took in a deep breath, her thoughts were growing hazy again.

Patriarch snarled gently, "Curious, two seekers in one mind... curious..."

"You have no power over me, hunter." said Osiris.

"I don't?" Patriarch shifted and dropped something in front of Ellana. She swallowed the instinctive urge to look, for she knew if she did what was left of her mental defense would break down. 

Osiris continued to walk forward slowly, keeping one eye on the other Warlock, and the other on Patriarch.

"You murder my children and think you can escape, even in my madness from the Machines?" the great beast made a sound like even mentioning the Vex triggered a bit of pain. The socket that would've serve as the cluster of Vex eye bulbs started to leak white fluid.

"The mad leading the mad... Darkness trying to eat its tail. You can't get what you want from her... release your hold on her!" he demanded.

The dragon cackled loudly, "Where I take her the Light will follow. For the Light cannot resist the call of the Dead." 

"Perhaps." Osiris was close enough that if he reached he could touch Ellana's shoulder, but a giant tail was in between them. One swipe and he would be sent across the room.

He looked straight into Ellana's frightened eyes, "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." she responded through the haze.

"Good." Fire erupted from the Warlock's body and consumed the entire room. Patriarch howled in agony and tumbled away, crashing and rolling through all the book cases. When they crashed to the floor they went up in sparks of green flame. Osiris kicked the object out of his way before taking Ellana's face in his strong hands. The fire did not burn her. 

She felt the webbing beginning to burn away from her body, her thoughts growing clearer by the second. The air no longer smelt of rotting dreams. The dragon screamed in fury, finding his feet and leaping at them.

Ellana reached up and grabbed Osiris' face when he went to move. He looked surprised for a second as she herself began to ripple with green energy. Their inner fire spun around them in a protective shield, keeping the Patriarch at bay. 

What served as the imagination's way of showing someone's inner mind began to burn away into darkness. The web of half truths and lies that Patriarch had attempted to weave into Ellana's mind shriveled and burned up. Next began the dragon itself, it writhed and rolled, trying to get away from the flames. 

Soon the dragon shriveled and curled in to itself, turning to dust as his connection was broken to the Guardian. Now it was only her and Osiris.

The flames ceased to be separate energies and suddenly merged into a cool turquoise. This caused both of them to to cringe as centuries of living started to bleed between them.

"Osiris! S-stop!" Ellana tried to let go but it was no good, they were drawing not only strength but emotions and memories.

"I... I can't!" for once Osiris' calm face was genuinely worried, "Sagira fully opened up the bond she has between us... it was the-agh!" a flood of pain wracked them both, terrifying and deep, one of those hidden pains that you never wanted to remember.

"Now now now now!" Sagira turned and faced Pearl. They both sent a laser of energy and information into each other's optics from where they hovered over their Warlock's real bodies. Prismatic light spiraled around them and then turned into pin points, striking down and breaking the Guardians bodies apart and into energy.

The oblivion bought them time.

The two Ghosts took a moment of silence to collect themselves. It was at this time that their kind were the most vulnerable. They couldn't move since they 'held' their Guardian's bodies in what was more easily described as limbo.

 

"Ok... ok.. ok ok ok we got this... we got this." Sagira said more to assure herself than anyone else.

"What do you need Sagira, tell me and I shall provide." Brother Vance cautiously stepped forward. He did not however traverse the burned circle that Osiris had created as a side affect in the real world.

"Uh... if you can find another Guardian that would be fantastic... otherwise... we gotta do this slowly and carefully on our own. So... shoo! Do as I uh... command!" She watched as Brother Vance backed away and bowed at the same time, turning to bark orders at the other cultists.

"Not the worst place she could've thought of." Sagira said.

"Not the best either... she must've thought Osiris... Lighthouse!! Ugh... at least we're not there with THEM." Pearl shuddered. 

"Hey hey... focus up... we got bodies to rebuild here. And probably a lot of brain damage. Oh Traveler this is going to take a while."

And it did. 

The bodies were the easier part to recreate. As Sagira and Pearl worked they realized that opening their unusual bond without restraint had made it easier for Osiris to gain access to Ellana's mind, the feedback between them however had created a unique wound to heal. They weren't even sure 'wound' was the correct word for it. 

The Cult brought in a follower from within the Vanguard itself, Pearl was excited for once since it was actually someone he knew. Information was exchanged and the ghosts went back to work with renewed Light provided by the friend, they had to make sure their Guardian's identities and memories were in tact.

Sagira took a break at one point and left her headspace, she noticed Pearl resting in Ellana's limp hand, shaking a little.

"Hey... hey! Hey Pearl what's wrong?" she flew over to him.

"I was stupid... I nearly got myself killed. I just really didn't want to leave her alone with that... that thing!"

"Don't beat yourself up about it! It worked out in the end! I mean... if we didn't have our weird little bond then that dragon might've gobbled you guys up!" Sagira felt super guilty when he just turned and buried his optic into Ellana's side.

"I just keep making stupid decisions! If I lose my life she loses hers!"

Sagira watched him tremble for a few moments longer before plopping right next to him, her back against the Awoken's side.

"You know... so this one time, Osiris (WAY before there was even a Vanguard by the way)... he was pursuing a bit of knowledge that was in shall we say... less than ideal conditions?" she glanced over at Pearl, he was still shaking.

"Anyway Osiris and I got into a bit of a tissy about what we should and shouldn't do for knowledge and we were of course ambushed. I was so mad at the interruption that instead of hiding like we should I rammed into the Fallen's face and knocked him out. Osiris was sooooo mad at me for doing that he made me stay inside him for weeks."

Pearl shifted so that his optic could actually look at her, he still looked very sad.

"My point is little Pearl that... we're all gonna make stupid decisions as Ghosts. Just hopefully we learn from them."

Pearl seemed to think on this before tilted in a nod.

"Alrighty!" she flew up, "Done moping?"

He made a little sniffle sound even though he technically couldn't cry, "Yeah... yeah I'm done."

"Good! Let's get these Guardians back up and running!"

Pearl watched Sagira go back to Osiris and disappear. He had to admit he admired her strength in the face of all these odd events. Then again with a Guardian like Osiris... 

He returned back to his own Guardian.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna try to upload a little more regularly, like every Monday or Friday... probably Monday :O

Oblivion. 

Peace at in its truest form.

However like anything, peace eventually comes to an end.

Consciousness winked into existence. It didn't start from nothing though, the building blocks and memories began stacking faster and faster. At some point a whirlwind of images, sounds and feelings spiraled together to recreate the little spark that made Ellana who and what she was.

Her dreams were a mess of chaos though, things collided dramatically like she lived two lives at once. Eventually though, those memories were slowly weeded away. Not completely gone, but they would no longer be a problem.

She felt an overwhelming sense of betrayal and sadness, the Last City disappearing into the horizon.

With a large gulp of air Ellana finally broke herself of the dreams and came back to the waking world. The last thing she remembered was Osiris plunging her inner mind with fire in an attempt to purge the snake. So she took a moment to just look at the room. 

The walls were made of rough flat stone imbedded with light fixtures, candles were lit on either side of her oddly plush bed. It wasn't too hot or too cold, the air was heavy with incense. A tapestry hung against the far wall with the symbol for the Cult of Osiris.

Ellana tried to sit up but immediately her head started spinning. She waited for it to stop before trying again but this time with a little more care. Her stomach hurt, not from hunger but the memory of being gutted. Even with a perfectly healed body, traumatic wounds tended to take a few days to completely fade away. A small draft told her that she was no longer wearing her armor, instead she was wearing a simple off white shift that was definitely not hers.

"Pearl?" she had to turn carefully to not upset her equilibrium. Her little Ghost was settled between her pillow and the mattress, his optic closed. It was pretty rare Ghosts powered down for rest. This only happened after he'd done a full reconstruction of her body. Carefully she picked him up and held him close to her chest. Even though he wasn't awake, his warm shell gave her the comfort she needed in that moment.

A quicker sweep of the room revealed that her armor and robes weren't there, though some form of cloth seemed to be hanging on a room divider. Once she felt steady enough she quickly tip toed over to it. Feeling very vulnerable with what amounted to a sheet that barely covered her butt.

"I didn't know you had a tattoo on your back."

Ellana yelped in fright, trying to keep her skirt down as she turned to see a female Hunter sitting on a window sill up against the ceiling, she'd apparently been reading a book. However, this Hunter with a star shaped mark on her forehead and orange yellow eyes was familiar.

"Neema!!" Ellana growled and hid behind the divider now that she knew who was there, "You couldn't just say... hello or something?"

"I kinda did... anyway that tattoo it looks really nice! When did you get it?" Neema snapped her old fashioned paper book closed and tossed it into the air, making her black and yellow ghost, Zizi, 'catch' it and put it in his storage.

The lithe Hunter dropped down with hardly a sound and went up to the now only slightly embarrassed Warlock.

"I got it before you came back from your Saturn voyage... how long have I been out?"

"Sweetie you've been missing for two years." Neema pulled down the clothes and examined them a moment before handing them to her friend, "As far as how long you were out, uhh... both you and Grumpy-lock were in your beauty sleep for a couple weeks."

"Wait... two years??"

"Yup."

"Did my plant die again??"

"The one Yinora was supposed to keep watered? Probably."

Ellana sighed in exasperation, rubbing her pounding head. She finally took a moment to look at the garb provided. It was made of some sort of silk which already was a minus in her book. 

"Where are my clothes??"

"Still being repaired... something chewed on you real good." Neema absentmindedly rubbed a bit of sand out of her eye, "Well, get dressed, Ikora is here and she wanted to talk to you as soon as you woke."

"She's here?? Where is Osiris?"

"Woke up yesterday. Come on I'll part the waters." even though Neema bore the colors and badges of a follower, she always insisted she was a Guardian first. The Hunter simply... had her reasons for agreeing with a lot of Osiris' speeches. 

"I can't wear this it's basically a dress!"

Neema tilted her head at her friend before reaching around and tugged playfully on the other woman's shift, "Could always go out like that, I'm sure some people wouldn't mind."

"Oh get out!" 

Even though the interaction was brief and light hearted, Ellana felt a dip in her energy shortly after. It always took some time to recover when your body was completely reconstructed. 

"Ellana?" Pearl wiggled out of her hand, "You're awake! You're ok!"

"Of course I'm ok, you're my ghost!" she smiled. 

Pearl's gaze sank for a bit but he rebounded, "I had help, Sagira and I had to do... a lot of stuff to get your guys back. We had to... compromise on a lot of things."

"Compromise?"

"Uh... well... I think you'll notice them soon enough. But the point is, no more nasty Ahamkara in your head! Apparently taking that was one way they used to lure Guardians back in the day... take some of their blood in a fight to help... encourage them to give up their secrets." he laughed nervously, "So glad that didn't happen."

"That makes two of us."

Ellana took her time getting dressed. Not only did she have to figure out how to wear the robe provided, but she would continue to get dizzy once in a while. 

Finally she came out from behind the divider to show Pearl, "This is ridiculous... at least with Warlock robes I get to wear pants." it fit around her midsection a little more than she cared for. It at least had a hood if she stepped out into the harsh sun.

"Got to admit... I was asleep when clothes were discussed... so I blame Neema." Pearl flew over to her shoulder.

"I'm surprised you haven't fussed about hair at this point."

"You brushed it that's good enough for now."

Ellana cracked open the door just a bit, seeing that Neema was the only one in the candle lit hallway. The Hunter was doing small tricks with her dagger and only stopped when Ellana finally got the courage to step outside.

Neema turned and smiled wildly when she saw the other Guardian, "Aren't you pretty."

"Shut up."

It wasn't that Ellana didn't like dresses, she just didn't like wearing dresses while outside of the City.

The two friends navigated the maze of halls which included a couple of old repurposed Vex portals oddly enough. 

"Almost there." Neema said after some silence passed between them.

Ellana swallowed a huff, "Is... is Ikora mad?"

"Well... I wouldn't say she's mad per se-."

"She's furious isn't she."

"Yes furious is a better word for it, but she's not furious with you specifically. Honestly I think she's more angry at herself. Also, she had to hold Brother Vance by the neck to let her in when I reported your return so.. she was already a little bit cranky before she learned about your time trip."

"It only felt like a couple months honestly."

The Hunter shrugged, "It probably was... for you guys. You know, timey whimey stuff."

Ellana rolled her eyes, "Is that a movie reference or something?"

"Hey it's not my fault Yinora holds me hostage to help her understand her boyfriend's Golden Age film habits."

They finally reached the top of the Lighthouse where the largest window was opened to the world outside. Ellana was happy to see familiar things behaving like they should, like books behaving to gravity. Outside the portal to the Infinite Forest seemed... odd. Instead of a highly complicated pattern it was simply a flat dull surface where the portal should've been.

In the center of the room, Osiris was leaning against a table with several paper and holographic maps strewn in front of him. Ikora stood next to him discussing something quietly while pointing at the 4D map. Brother Vance paced just a little ways off, his behavior sort of reminded Ellana of a scolded puppy.

As they approached Brother Vance glanced at them, "My Lady." he said quietly and bowed to her, something he'd never done before.

"Hi.. Brother Vance." Ellana moved as casually as she could to the other side of Neema so that the Hunter was between them. She knew it was a silly notion but she just felt so vulnerable in her current attire.

Ikora and Osiris looked up when they heard her voice. The Vanguard Warlock immediately met with then and gently took Ellana's face in her hands, looking at her with that special critical eye.

"Ellana, I'm glad you're safe, and seemingly in tact." she said once she seemed satisfied. Ever since the Red War, she'd allowed just a little more emotion to show to her students at least. The Warlock sighed heavily, "I should've made you wait."

"If we had waited then those Ahamkara would've torn apart the node by now. The Vex are having trouble with the Matriarch because she's consumed a Ghost as price for whatever that traitor's wish was." Ellana noticed that Osiris avoided eye contact with her, though he did not in acknowledgement to her.

Ikora didn't argue nor did she agree. She simply turned back to the maps, "The scout party we sent to your last location reported that the node's walls have been reconstructed and reinforced. So this Matriarch will have to find a different way inside."

"Do you think it's possible she might have a nest somewhere?" Ellana piped up, "I mean, we did run into one of her young on the surface."

"It's possible, the two that were with her were probably the largest of the clutch and wanted to hunt." Osiris stood up with some effort, still feeling where the bullets had shattered his leg bones.

"Then that's our next target, finding this brood's clutch until the Hunt is over... again." Ikora pulled up a holographic panel and sent text orders out to several groups in the field.

"Will they be alright?" Ellana asked, her heart skipping a beat as she remembered the Patriarch's attempt to consume her mind.

"After your initial report and Zevala's angry rant at me, we found some old methods of protection in the archives that the previous Hunt discovered." she sent out her orders and closed the hologram, "Something that would've benefited you both before just barging in there." Behind her, Osiris made a face of annoyance but held his response.

"Sorry." Ellana couldn't help but say.

"What's done is done, the important thing is that you're both safe. Now we need to get that tear in time back under control it's starting to physically manifest on the surface. We have another ship of Guardians en route to Mercury, they should be here within the next few days."

"The Cult is ready to assist the Vanguard in anyway it can, Ikora Rey." Brother Vance, "Stepped forward, we know Mercury very well and can assist your Hunters in most places."

"Fine. Let's discuss logistics." she looked at Osiris, "Go rest, my friend, you're starting to sweat." she reached up with a gloved hand and wiped a single drip away from his temple. She then looked at Ellana and softened a bit, "If you're up to it I'd like to further discuss some things after I'm done here."

Ellana nodded and realized for the first time that she was actually breathing with a bit of labor. Just standing was taking up a lot of energy. Neema seemed to sense this, but instead of holding her she stood close enough that their arms touched and Ellana leaned in to her till she stopped being dizzy again. The Warlock was spared looking like she couldn't walk on her own. 

The Hunter waited patiently for her friend to recover before turning to her and smiling, "Let's go eat something, I'm sure you'd like some sunlight after being underground so long."

Before they left the top of the tower, Ellana stole one last glance behind her and this time caught Osiris watching her. Her mind filled with that moment he'd helped her purge the dragon and she quickly turned back around. Her face felt very hot suddenly.

Outside, it seemed that the Cultists had expanded their living space in the last two years. Neema took her to get some fresh food from a vender and then out somewhere overlooking the large valley behind the Lighthouse. On the horizon you could actually see the aura given off by the cracked planet. It seemed such a casual thing for Humanity at this point, to just continue living even if a catastrophe was staring you in the face.

The sun did feel nice though, she hadn't realized how cold her skin was. It seemed to help give her a little more energy. Ellana finished eating her small meal and wrapped up the paper it had came with. Glancing around to see if there was a designated trash dispenser, she suddenly noticed how some of the people (mostly the Cultists) were watching her. Frowning, she pulled her hood up and turned around.

"How are you feeling?" Neema asked, the other Awoken holding on to her Ghost trying to pull a piece of plant out from between his gears. 

"Drafty." Ellana pulled her skirts a little tighter around her legs, "Also, why is everyone staring at me?" she watched Neema look up, then back down at Zizi.

"Well... word is when you entered this Lighthouse..." she plucked the piece of shrub out, "... you were awake and cognizant. Then as you began to have a seizure, Osiris threw quite the fit."

"So? He cares, is it wrong for someone to care?"

"Nothing wrong with it, even from Grumpy-lock. There you go!" Zizi flew free and gave himself a good shake before disappearing into his Guardian. Neema uncapped a water bottle pointed it at Ellana, "Osiris showed you are important to him... therefore... the fans see you as important too." she winked and took a sip.


	10. Chapter 10

As the sun began to set, Neema had to answer a call from another camp in the area. So Ellana remained in her room so she could avoid everyone staring at her. She made a mental note not to poke fun at Osiris.

She lay on her bed on top of the covers. Periodically closing her eyes to rest, but she didn't feel like sleeping. Pearl offered her some things to do that he had stored away but she told him she just wanted to rest.

Before she fell completely asleep a soft knock sounded at the door.

Ellana looked forlornly at Pearl who rolled his optic and went to the door and teleported to the other side of it. A second later he came back in followed by Ikora. The Awoken sat up as fast as her headache would let her as her teacher approached.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like a train hit me then backed up... but Pearl does a good job." she booped him on the tip of his shell, causing him to wiggle happily before disappearing.

"It's never a pleasant experience." Ikora sat down next to Ellana when she scooted over to make room, "Have you experienced anything other than pain?"

"Oh... I assume you're not talking about all the attention the Cultists are giving me." Ellana shrugged, "No... at least... not yet. Pearl told me there were... 'compromises' that they had to do. I haven't experienced them."

Ikora nodded, "Osiris was a bit... evasive on what he experienced. He just told me it wasn't going to interfere with his work."

"I guess it was foolish to hope that we could've come out of that experience with no consequences." Ellana sighed, fiddling with the fabric of her sleeve.

"A bit." Ikora half smiled, "Most people that I've heard or read about rarely survive a melding of minds, especially ones as strong as you two."

"I'm not that strong. I couldn't get rid of that Ahamkara by myself." the memory of her pride getting the better of her hurt.

"I honestly have never heard of anyone who has. Try not to beat yourself up about it." she waited till Ellana nodded, "Once you've fully recovered we'll put you back into the field. I practically had to lock Osiris in his room to make sure he rested... stubborn old man." she sighed.

"He certainly has a hard time sitting still."

Ikora sighed heavily, "I don't think he ever will... not while the Vex exist." the concern in the woman's face made Ellana feel very sad. Despite being apart of the group that had kicked him out of the City, she still cared deeply for the man who'd raised her up.

After Ikora left, Ellana tried to go to sleep but she kept analyzing everything she was feeling. It didn't help Pearl was being so vague about this 'compromise' he and Sagira had apparently made.

"Pearl?" she called out but her ghost didn't answer. He'd mentioned about still making repairs since a complete fusion of consciousnesses was not a common thing he had to deal with. The most dangerous part was keeping their memories separate.

Ellana was fiddling with her hair when something piqued her attention. Sitting up she reached out with her senses both physical and energy. She didn't feel unsafe... just suddenly aware that something had changed.

The Warlock considered just staying in her room, unsure if she wanted to pursue this curiosity. Huffing in annoyance Ellana got up and slipped barefoot into the hall. Abandoned Vex buildings were always very strange to navigate. Luckily Neema's small tour helped her get the jist of it.

She might've missed this room if she didn't notice a slight discoloration on the wall behind the opening. The chamber was largely empty except for decorative yellow and black cloths hanging on the wall. It seemed the candle plates had been cleaned out recently and the new candles burned warmly.

Osiris was sitting with his back to her in the center. Placed with purpose all around him were black candles, unlit. Ellana didn't make a sound, in fact she was considering leaving.

"You're starting to feel it aren't you?"

She paused midstep, "What am I supposed to be feeling?"

"Awareness."

Ellana still considered leaving for few more moments but the curiosity was getting the better of her. She stepped in to the circle, walked around and sat facing him. That feeling that had brought her here was the strongest next to him. It didn't feel like his aura of Light though it was something else.

The other Warlock opened his eyes after a moment, clear and calculating as ever. Yet Ellana sensed a softness that hadn't been there before.

"What do you remember?" he asked.

"Of... our encounter?" Ellana took a breath, fiddling with her hair, "Um... everything. Not so much images as the emotions of the memories. Rage, fear, love... all of them."

"Same. Though I think the difference between us is that you have a lot of love in your heart compared to mine."

Ellana scrunched her face a bit when she felt that blush sliding up to her cheeks, "I... ok if we're going to talk about this can we get to the point?"

He released a small chuckle, "I'm still trying to figure that part out myself."

"You do more leaping before you look than people think, don't you?"

"If you could please tell the Cultists that, it might lower their opinion of me." he sat up a little straighter and the candles around them suddenly lit themselves. He cringed a little bit and shifted his weight off of the leg that had actually had its bone shattered.

"It builds character... having to deal with your own fans." she grinned.

"Don't mock me with my own words."

"It keeps you grounded."

Osiris chuckled, "Grounded... I think I spend too much time on the ground these past few centuries."

"Sounds exhausting."

"Yes... it can be." he sighed, "For someone with all the time across different realities... I have no time."

"Ikora told me once to make time."

He smiled, "Good advice. Advice I wish and hope to take advantage of sooner than later."

Ellana suddenly felt something stir in her chest. It was a real feeling, however it wasn't hers. Her body reacted with a pleasant electric tingling. She raised her gaze to Osiris'.

"Was that...?"

"It's mostly theory at this point... but I think our Ghosts couldn't completely separate us since we were already connected through the Light." he shrugged, "It will take some time to understand since it's such a new thing."

"So are you saying... we can feel what each other's feeling?"

"Simplest way to put it, yes."

"Oh." Ellana really wasn't sure she wanted her innermost emotions to be known. It certainly bypassed most if not all of the social barriers.

Unsure of where to take the conversation next, she stood up. Osiris mirrored her action, the flames of the candles growing taller. Oddly enough very little of the wax had melted.

When she tried to walk past him he reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her. His grip wasn't painful but it was firm enough to get his point across, he lightened it when she finally looked at him. Being this close to him she could feel that heat wave that the powerful Warlock always had.

"We can't run away from this, Ella. So we have to learn to cope with it... and it has to be with each other. The bond isn't just through our Ghosts now. And I can't keep this mental barrier up all the time. I mean... despite what standards I hold myself up to I'm still human."

Ellana chewed on her lower lip a tad, she had a feeling that Osiris was holding a lot back and here she was frolicking around with her heart open. Must be like a hailstorm of emotions for him to deal with. However you can't stop from feeling, even as an Awoken, if you tried to bottle up your bleeding heart then the blood would rot so to speak.

"Ok... so... where do we start?"

"A good question." he let her go and sighed, "I'm better with numbers than people."

"I hadn't noticed." Ellana snorted.

She thought a moment longer, "We could open up the bond again... this time with a little less enthusiasm." she added, "If we're going to feel each other on this... emotional level, we might as well know each other... right?" she laced her fingers behind her back to try and hide the fact that they were shaking. Her urge to be open to knowledge was currently fighting with her instincts to protect her emotional side.

"That's a big first step."

"Well... if you've read a tome somewhere on 'how to deal with merged consciousness' please tell me because I'm just spitting ideas out." she felt the twinge of annoyance before she saw it. He didn't seem annoyed with her specifically, but at the lack of pathway to follow. However Osiris didn't see lack of knowledge as a barrier, he saw it as a challenge.

He stepped close to her and raised both hands at first with a question and she answered by raising her own. Ellana immediately noticed that she was not the only one nervous about this. Osiris' hands had a small tremor to them as they touched her face. This gave her a little more comfort to relax.

They closed their eyes so that the corporeal world was no longer a distraction. At first, it was questionable as to what exactly they were looking for.

Fearful to touch the flame they danced around each other's mind, touching only the surface thoughts before recoiling quickly. It felt alien to really feel someone else's thoughts. Sure they could talk with their ghosts inside their heads but they kept their personalities and memories separate.

The wall they'd run into was self consciousness more than anything else.

Ellana tried something else, instead she looked for shared experiences to perhaps 'break the ice' with this wordless conversation they were trying to have.

For some reason she immediately thought of when Sagira put him on the spot about her looking nice. However this time she experienced it from the opposite side. She felt like she was the one speaking but she didn't know the language... and yet she understood.

"Sagira what is with your latest scheme of trying to embarrass me in front of this Guardian."

"It's not embarrassing if you think someone is pretty!"

Osiris was so glad he had a mask on since he could feel his face blush, "Enough Sagira! What have I said about distractions!"

The man's aura grew a little warmer with this revelation but he stood firm as he realized what Ellana was trying to do. In order to stabilize this bond that they had, there really couldn't be a lot of secrets between them if any.

The thought trail continued from this hared moment. It lingered a few moments when the ship lurched and Ellana ran into Osiris in the hallway. With the close proximity he couldn't help but notice how pleasant she smelled. He thought her as sweet as a thorned rose.

Little admissions to each other, there was no doubt an attraction on a physical level, as well as intellectual. Even if they disagreed on several fronts. There was one memory that Osiris wasn't quite willing to give up at first. It was when she'd gotten bored and sang. To him that had been when she was the most attractive, a skilled Sunsinger willing to give a corporeal voice to Sol's music.

Ellana felt that very pleasant electric tingle again, at first it was only from him, then it spread warmly through out her own body. Osiris let out a shuddering breath, trying to not allow his body to get distracted. It was very very tempting to just linger with this feeling of lust.

The thought was entertaining, but attraction was superficial. They needed to be ready for when bigger things came to mind. Simultaneously they moved on, moving further back in their history. For a moment Ellana experienced Osiris exhausted from running and fighting for weeks straight, crawling into a hole somewhere in the Infinite Forest and holding a wound that he was afraid would not heal. The feeling of loneliness and fear trickling into his heart.

It was near this point that Sagira was transplanted into Pearl's shell. The connection gave strength to the weakened Warlock but at the same time confusion. He did not recognize Sagira's connection. It had been Pearl who'd healed him even though he'd been forced to sleep in order to let Sagira function as Ellana's Ghost. It was the very first time he'd felt like someone was helping him.

Osiris heard Ellana's screams of anguish, desperate to find out where Pearl had gone and ready to destroy Sagira if she didn't provide an answer. He didn't blame the young Warlock for being upset.

The exchange continued.

Unfortunately the loudest memories were the painful ones and they experienced each other's heart breaks, embarrassments and failures.

Osiris discovered that Ellana, though young compared to his Guardianship, had lived her second life very hard from the beginning. He experienced the absolute horror of Ellana's greatest fear.

Her and a Titan were surrounded by Taken, simply getting overwhelmed by the endless and tireless forces of Darkness. In the chaos Ellana heard a scream and she turned to see her dearest friend get dragged into the Taken realm. The Ward he'd dropped to help her recover from her wounds shivered and popped like a soap bubble. Pearl was yelling at her to move, to move away as fast as she could. Instead she filled the room with fire and rage, feeding on the sorrow that would nearly consume her in the years to come.

A greatest fear, to fail those you cared for.

It was Osiris' turned to share now. His greatest pain came in the form of Ikora, his greatest student and friend. He stood in his study, feeling suffocated and trapped. Outside the ones obsessed with his ideas and twisting them into religion. While inside Ikora stood at his doorway warning him of the Speaker's decision. The largest dagger was that she agreed with their reasoning.

But he was, he was helping humanity through his studies... how could the Speaker denounce him?! How could Ikora side with the man trying to control everything down to the word.

He would fight for humanity, even those who'd abandoned him. His greatest fear, to not only fail at countering the Vex, but to fail because he was alone.

The pain between them was raw, burning as hot as lightening and ready to tear them apart. Their bond was beginning to grow unstable as the two were uncertain to go from here.

Ellana suddenly remembered Osiris' feeling of hope when their bond accidentally happened. This made her think of the day that she was finally able to let go of her despair about losing Aco-9. It led to that triumphant moment, bathed in his court's and family's blood, when the last bullet landed into Oryx's heart that she was able to let go of that day. Even if it still hurt.

The sense of healing seemed to stabilize the connection. Osiris sighed heavily, leaning into her both physically and mentally. He still couldn't quite let go of what Ikora had did to him... but he acknowledged that he hadn't been fulfilling the roll he was supposed to. For without it, even Ellana wouldn't be standing here with him. It was a start.

Their senses started to simmer down as they focused more on the rays of hope that had pulled them through hard times, whether they were things, people, or self realizations.

For a single moment in time two entities existed in peace. They could've stayed that way forever, never alone. Intimacy was something everyone craved, to be able to trust someone with their innermost secrets. A small voice called them back though, it was not a time for oblivion.

Ellana was the first to withdraw, the comfortable darkness blurring into sharpness of the candle lit room. Slowly, she took in a deep breath. Taking in Osiris' sweet scent since they were practically embracing each other at this point. She used him as a pillar for the moment, trying to ground herself in the here and now. Her body remembering that it had just went through several traumas. Osiris finally stirred, retreating from the connection so that it was just tucked away in the corner of his mind.

Ellana couldn't help but chuckle ironically as she gave him a slight push away from her, "Um... boundaries?"

"Yes... boundaries." the man snorted, one hand on her shoulder to keep his own balance, "Do those even count in this situation?" Around them, the candles had burned taller than they naturally would, but still had not burned away much of their wicks. A testament to Osiris' discipline with the Light.

However the candles on the outside of the ring had burned low, indicating they'd been there most of Mercury's long night.

Sagira abruptly appeared, "You know kids, I think that's enough experimenting for one night! You're making us work over time!"

"No kidding." now Pearl appeared, "I thought I would only have to deal with memories once!" the poor Ghosts looked exhausted.

"Well on the bright side... they stabilized what we couldn't." Sagira sat on top of Osiris' head. How she managed to keep her balance without his normal headdress was beyond Pearl.

"I suspected that not all the healing could come from you two." Osiris sighed, fiddling with a rope on his robes. Ellana realized this was the first time she'd seen him fidget. Then again he was wearing a pretty elaborate set of clothes till his own were repaired as well.

Ellana suddenly realized he was examining her own clothing which caused her to fold her arms and blush, "Osiris!"

He smiled but didn't say anything, "We should do this again until we can be familiar enough to not be surprised by each other."

"That wasn't enough?" Ellana wanted to punch him but that probably wouldn't go over well, "No no no no!" she held up her hand when he opened his mouth, "I get it... I see where your logic is coming from."

"Good cuz he was about to explain it in detail." Sagira chuckled.

"I don't need to hear it again... again." Ellana felt a very sudden sense of deja vu. She'd known what Osiris was going to say already. Osiris raised an eyebrow curiously at her squirming.

"Break time!" she swiftly exited the room. Her body was currently a mess of pain, exhaustion and arousal at this point. She didn't remember most of Osiris' memories specifically, they were like fleeting pieces of a dream that you wanted to hang on to after waking up. However the emotions attached to them, those were very very vivid. Upon returning to her room she dropped her too fancy robes and dove under the covers where she quickly fell asleep this time. Her dreams were a little more intimate than she cared for.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3c Just wanted to take an official moment to thank all of you wonderful people out there who are enjoying my fanfic! It makes me super happy to be writing again and being well received! LUFF U ALL!!! <3

It became a ritual over the next few days that once the Lighthouse settled down for the night, Osiris and Ellana would delve into each other's minds in order to explore this bond that they had. It was an exhausting adventure, leaving both to sleep off the symptoms on most days. Some days they would leave each other more upset than others. However after a few attempts they realized that specifically in order to not burden one another with something, they had to focus on the emotions themselves. The body remembered before the mind did, and memory was fickle at best. 

They grew familiar with each other's greatest pains and little ones. They had to balance the pain with pleasure, happiness to be precise. For if one of them was in pain it started reflecting on the other, and could grow out of control very fast. They learned this like many people do, by accident. 

When they weren't together they were with Ikora and the still sulking Brother Vance. The Matriarch was using the Light she'd stolen to keep the Vex from completely repairing the Machine below their feet. 

The Vex had stopped paying attention to the Guardians, allowing them to roam almost freely down below in their Machine. Osiris left for a day and came back with news from his copies that the Infinite Forest was still deteriorating. 

"This Matriarch has become paracausal to the Vex's realities. Have you found her nest yet?" Asher growled over the comms link. 

"The scouts are finding some promising leads but they keep getting hampered by things shifting around due to the time fluxes in that area." Ikora rubbed her temple, "Almost lost one to a wall that just suddenly appeared... luckily his Ghost had been elsewhere at the time." the rest of the conversation was mostly Asher quipping about running out of time before the Warlock shut him off mid sentence to keep her sanity. 

Ellana approached the makeshift command center, seeing Ikora in a little more distress than usual, "No luck?" she offered a cup of tea.

"No, and Zevala of course is giving me grief earlier about working this closely with Osiris." she accepted the cup and sipped it carefully, seeming to relax a bit.

"I mean... you did send me and a team off without his consent... not that it's the first time." she added quickly when she got the look.

Ikora chuckled coldly, "Titans are the bearers of order. That's why I don't always argue with him. Sometimes you need a pillar in a storm." she sipped her tea again before giving Ellana a critical eye, "You seem to be recovering well, how are you feeling?"

"Physically? Great! Especially now that I got all my gear back. Don't have to worry about the wind blowing my skirts up."

"Emotionally?"

Ellana thought for a moment, "We've stabilized our connection, if that's what you're really wondering."

"Good. Osiris was mentioning going back out there soon, and he made a point to tell me that he wanted you to be apart of his fire team. What say you?"

She bit her lip gently, "I say yes, because if we've learned anything it's that two minds against a silver tongue like the Ahamkara makes it all the less likely to give in to their antics. Plus the Matriarch hates Osiris I think he'd make great bait to draw her out." this earned her an amused smile from her elder Warlock. Ikora looked away, seeming to be concerned with something but instead she turned away.

"You... don't approve?"

"It's not that, Ellana. I'm actually happy he insists on bringing someone with him. The Osiris that left all those years ago would be gone by now." she chuckled, "Zevala says Osiris can't be trusted... perhaps not to follow the City's rules. But he fights for humanity. I'm happy to see him accept our offer of help... even from the Cultists."

"Well he needed a reminder of what he's fighting for... I think he'll be good for a while." Ikora gave Ellana a strange look, "What?"

"Never mind." Ikora pulled together several maps and pushed the hologram toward the other woman. Pearl appeared and caught the bundle of information.

"These are maps of the current areas that have been covered, also frequencies of all the other fire teams that are on this mission. Keep in mind that several of them are in different 'time zones' when you're coordinating. Also, let me know when you're leaving, I know Osiris doesn't like to be hovered over but I would like to have some sort of presence."

"No promises on the hovering but Pearl will let you know when we leave." Ellana said.

Ikora smiled and nodded, knowing this was the best she was going to get from someone being in Osiris' company. 

"By the way, Ellana."

The younger Warlock turned on her heel comically and walked the two feet back to Ikora.

The other Warlock seemed to be struggling to find the words, "Just be careful, the both of you, don't push yourselves too hard especially with your new bond." 

Ellana's face took on a more serious look as she gave her senior a little bow of acknowledgement.

With the noise of the conversation over, Ellana became very aware of the feeling of restlessness. Osiris had learned to project even when she wasn't in the same room. A thing she hadn't quite been able to get a hold yet. She was a quick study, but not as quick as Osiris. For the most part they could function day to day without putting up a mental barrier (which was quite exhausting) because most of the time were weren't feeling anything at the moment. Maybe the occasional sense of annoyance when Osiris had to deal with the Cult or his uncertainty around Ikora. Ellana just hoped that she was not wearing her heart on her sleeve every single second of the day.

Suddenly there was a loud burst of giggles and someone came flying around the corner and rammed straight into her. Before she recovered Ellana was immediately faced with a barrage of apologies by a hooded woman and her child who'd ran around the corner.She recognized them from around the compound, the mother helped in logistics and supplies.

"I'm so sorry my Lady please forgive my child for being stupid!" the woman was practically in tears. The child squirmed, obviously in pain from his mother's grip.

"Whoa whoa... relax." Ellana assured them, "It was an accident, no harm done. Your son was just playing." it took her another minute to insist that she herself wasn't upset. She was going to step away when the boy asked, "Are you the Lady Isis? That Osiris helped save when he returned to us?"

"Uhh..." Ellana looked to the mother who just turned away sheepishly, "Uhh for one little guy my name is Ellana, not Isis. And I'm just a Guardian, see?" she held up her hand and Pearl appeared at her bidding, he twittered happily at the boy who finally smiled, "I'm no one special. I just help Osiris stay out of trouble."

She thought about patting him on the head and then remembered Sagira talking about people feeling blessed when she so much as looked at them. So she withheld her action and went on her way.

Mercery seemed oddly quiet, even for a dead planet. It felt like that moment when you took one last breath before taking the plunge. Ellana followed Osiris' presence until she saw him, standing at the top of a hill not too far away with the torn canyon in the distance. It appeared he was talking with Brother Vance and Neema. The Hunter seemed to be more of a barrier between the two with the way her posture was.

Before she got within ear shot Brother Vance gave a low bow of submission and departed his God's company. He gave her what passed as a friendly look for him and continued on his way.

"...just make sure your team is ready." Osiris was saying to Neema when the Warlock finally made it.

"Oh they will be, or they'll be answering to me." she looked at Ellana, "Hey Isis." she snickered.

"Don't." 

"Please don't." Osiris sighed heavily, "It only encourages them."

"I won't say it in front of them, it's just funny to watch poor Ellana squirm." the other Awoken smiled mischievously. Ellana could only glare at her friend.

Osiris' gaze lingered on the portal to the Infinite Forest, its smooth glassy surface indicating the problems still going on, "Brother Vance is going to send those who can't fight off planet for now. I have a feeling once we slay these dragons that the Vex are going to return en force for a while."

"Already planning a victory, I like this guy Ellana you should keep him."

"Says the Guardian who called him a'Grumpy-lock'." Ellana lovingly teased. It was very much Neema to somehow put her own foot in her mouth.

Neema chuckled nervously when Osiris glanced at her. Ellana could feel his annoyance quickly turn to amusement. He turned back around without saying a word. He tolerated the Hunter's disrespect as it showed to him that she didn't take him as seriously as the Cult she wore the brand for.

"Be careful out there, the Hunt is on!" Neema gave Ellana an obnoxiously powerful hug.

"Neema my bones! Please!" Ellana wheezed.

"I'm just getting the hugs in just in case it's another two years before we see each other." Neema winked at her, "Ciao, and happy hunting."

And with that the two Warlocks were left alone on the hill. At their feet the sand sang as the wind carried it tirelessly across the world. 

"How long have you known your friend?" 

She looked up, "Since I arrived at the Tower. Neema's been around much longer than me."

"You keep good company... even if she is a loud mouthed Hunter."

"Well I mean... she's a Hunter. Hunters have big mouths and big hearts." Ellana smiled.

"That's one way of putting it." Osiris turned to face her now, "Ikora just told me that the nest has finally been found, but it's been... ill advised to attack it without enough Guardians around to support each other. However we need to get rid of something else before we attempt to go to the nest."

"What's that?"

"The ex-Guardian that gave up his Light. We destroy him, the Matriarch no longer has a reason to keep digging up the Vex's nodes."

Ellana's stomach cramped a bit when she thought of that fight, "Yes, that sounds like a plan."

"His name is... or was Samuel, he's a human. This was way before the Vanguard was even a thing so there's not that many records." Pearl mentioned as he rifled through the files they'd found on the derelict ship. He hated dealing with time touched files as he called them, because sometimes their information would change or completely disappear on him. He didn't like having holes in his memory.

"Regardless of who he was that's not what he is now. His mind belongs to the Matriarch." Osiris shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Probably remembering when the dragon had filled his head with so much noise that he couldn't even defend himself. 

She wasn't quite sure what prompted her to do it but Ellana reached out and touched Osiris' arm. This eased his restlessness and he finally stood still. Seeing and experiencing Osiris the way Ellana had, just made her respect him more, both as a Warlock and a person. The stories were so full of his great achievements they failed to remind you that he was still a regular person underneath it all. Fear was a regular guest to anyone's heart, but that didn't mean it had to rule the party.

Osiris gave her a look of thanks for her comfort, then pulled out those strange three dice, "Ready?"

"Always." she smiled.

The man paused a moment, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Putting up with me. I can't quite forgive the Vanguard... or Ikora quite yet. However I can't dismiss the reasons behind HER decision entirely. Had she not chosen to guide the Warlocks even you wouldn't have arrived the day Panoptis found Sagira and I." he looked back at the Forest portal, "People starting to call me obsessed." he gestured toward it, "And yet here they are on our doorstep. They have been for several hundred years."

Ellana thought about her response carefully, "The roads you both took are now converging again. It wasn't the most elegant of partings, but I think for the sake of humanity it's working out." a minute past before Osiris nodded, "Ikora stood with what she thought was right. I think that's a trait she learned from the best."

Osiris smiled, not just any smile but one with a softness that Ellana had only seen once. He raised the dice and they flew up, spinning around each other before connecting and creating the portal.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm bad at this posting regularly thing... lol

"Pearl!" 

Sagira came zooming into the obsidian maze that made up Ellana's headspace and was about to smack into the other Ghost when he backed up a few lengths without even looking at her and sent her flying past her tackling target with a squeak. He moved back into position where he'd been looking at some numbers.

He didn't expect her to essentially do a boomerang and still smack into him.

"Oh my ball in the sky! What's gotten into you Sagira!!" Pearl wiggled all his pieces back into their appropriate spots as he glared at her.

"I don't know... maybe having two Guardians has given me a little bit of pep." she flew a couple circles around him, making him dizzy before going up to the terminal he'd been using.

"We've been through this, Ellana is my guardian."

"Technically, they're both our Guardians now." Sagira saw how the connection manifested itself, behind all the codes in the walls the light was still green, but occasionally a ripple of blue would occur. She imagined the pulses would change in accordance with what was happening. Right now the Guardians were just traveling.

Pearl huffed, "Alright technically you're correct but still."

"Don't worry, I no touch! I just like looking at what you're working on!"

"Just more defenses." Pearl said as he finished up a couple equations, "Since we survived the invasion of the Patriarch I have a lot of data to sift through. I don't think we've had any of this before because those Guardians never survived their... wish granting."

"Yeah well most Guardians weren't forcefully fused together with some weird altered Vex machine." Sagira replied.

"True... but I feel like it would still be handy if there are more of these Ahamkara hidden in our solar system. Rumors tend to have a lick of truth somewhere."

"Fair enough." Sagira abruptly flew off.

At this point Pearl was used to her acting like this. So he followed her more out of curiosity. 

He found her at the locked door to Ellana's life before becoming a Risen. The chains had been corroded like acid had rained on them.

Sagira whistled, "Damn! Patriarch was going for it."

"Yup." Pearl floated up to the chains and sighed, "I hid it as long as I could... now I just got to repair it at some point when we're not dragon hunting."

"I wonder if this is what every Guardian's mind looks like when an Ahamkara starts breaking them down. That Samual we're looking for... his mind must be a train wreck."

"Or a graveyard... from the look in his eyes there wasn't much left of who Samual was." Pearl shuddered, remembering when the exGuardian had plunged his knife into Ellana. It didn't matter how many times it happened, when a fatal wound hit your Guardian it was terrifying. Even though they were warriors meant to take battle wounds, Pearl always felt guilty that Ellana had to essentially take the hits for him. Ghosts just made sure the body could keep going.

Outside, the giant construct of the Vex machine spread before the Guardians. Smaller versions of the node they'd recently been to were clustered here. Osiris' ever calculating gaze took it all in while listening to the scout they'd met up with.

"She's placed it in several locations between these structures." the Hunter was saying, "I think she's done it on purpose."

Ellana looked at the 3D map carefully that the Hunter had constructed. It looked like the Matriarch had dug out three chambers right up against the Vex's walls. Their great machine was already heavily damaged by the Almighty's feasting. It seemed that their attempts to prevent further damage was giving the Ahamkara the opportunity to rear her clutch.

"Has anyone gone near the nest?" Osiris asked.

"No."

He gave the Hunter a piercing look.

"Not that close." the Hunter corrected, "As soon as they started feeling odd they backed away. To be fair that's only how we knew exactly where she'd dug."

"And where is the Matriarch and her mates now?"

"They leave every few days, sometimes coming back with battle wounds."

"She's still trying to destroy the main crossroads." Ellana fiddled with the tips of her gloves, "If we're not fighting her, I think the Vex are using her Patriarch to keep her at bay."

"It seems even creatures of the dark know some concept of love." Osiris muttered low enough that only Ellana could hear, "That poses a new problem though, it means they have some semblance of control since his mind is partially turned into Vex."

"Let's focus on the problems growing in there first." Ellana pointed out.

"Agreed."

Osiris told the other Guardians to hang back until he called them forward. It took them a little more firm convincing before they finally agreed. Ellana could sense the discomfort that everyone had with Osiris. On the one hand many revered him, on the other they were quite nervous due to his reputation. 

She did her best to not get in the way of the exchange, she felt it was up to him to repair what his actions had done to the other Guardians. In the end they looked at Ellana though young in the grand scheme of things, they knew her better. She just quietly nodded and that helped give a little trust in Osiris for them.

The climb was not an easy one, especially the nest was made with wings in mind. 

The closer they got to the nest, the more Ellana noticed a quiet buzzing sound. It wasn't so much in her ears as it was between them. Osiris abruptly stopped in front of her and she ran into him.

"Please don't do that while we're on a freakin' cliff!" she growled.

"Do you have a strong memory in mind?" 

"What?"

"A strong memory, preferably one that's not traumatic. I feel like we're going to need it to stop this noise."

Now understanding, Ellana thought a moment in her many lives that was loud enough to drown out the buzz out. It wasn't completely gone but now it wasn't making it hard to think.

As carefully as they could, they entered the chamber to be greeted by a very disheartening sight.

There were several clusters of crystalline eggs, the largest batches of them were up near the back of the den where one of the young breeding males was currently sleeping. Sagira popped out cautiously and scanned the entire cavern.

"This mother is smart." she whispered, "These eggs are all at different stages of birth but their growth is accelerated, all of these different time zones within the Machine must be helping with that."

Osiris stood straight up and walked toward the nearest egg. He was greeted with a weird squelching sound as whatever was inside shifted toward his approach. The Warlock knelt next to the egg, it glowed gently in response, one could see the bright veins of the fetus inside. Ellana felt a twinge of curiosity from the man. Like something wasn't quite right.

Something cold and hard pressed itself against the back of Ellana's neck and she froze.

"Don't wake the children." a raspy voice warned.

Osiris whirled around readying his rifle. The ragged Hunter chuckled at the hostility, "You two have no manners at all."

"And you have no sense of duty." Osiris growled.

The other man laughed again quietly, keeping the gun on Ellana's neck, "Says the man who abandoned what was it called... the Vanguard? Whatever that is." even though his face was covered by his cracked mask the amusement was heavy when Osiris looked surprised, "She sampled your memories if you're curious... not enough to lay a hook into you."

Ellana was starting to get very angry, she did not care to have her head blown off but she also wasn't sure what would set this guy off.

"Samuel."

The gun shuddered slightly against her collar.

"Samuel... why did you give in to the Matriarch?" she asked, not sure what else to say.

"Samuel Samuel Samuel.... such an old name. A name so deep rooted we've forgotten where it came from." the human snorted and cast his face up to the sleeping dragon, "They haven't forgotten though... while we cling to dead things they make new from the dead's wishes."

Abruptly he pulled Ellana close to him and he held her close, keeping the barrel pointed into her skull, "Little things little things little things aren't enough! They're not enough!!" Ellana was so glad she had a helmet on, she could only imagine this man smelled of rot.

"Not enough to do what exactly?" Osiris asked, keeping his aim on the other human.

Samuel laughed at first, then it became difficult to tell if he was laughing or crying, "You should know. You should both know! Eternity has mercy for no one! Everything will just wither and die around you. But here... with HER." he gestured to the den, "There can be peace. Let her bring peace, let her bring life. The Traveler knew it would bring pain to us... and now it just wants to prolong it. Watch us suffer in its dreams."

Osiris had had enough, he reached around with his foot and rolled one of the eggs out in front of him. Now he pointed the rifle at it, "Stay with me, Samuel."

Ellana felt the twitching and fidgeting still.

"There, now that that's got your attention." Osiris was pleased, "Let go of her."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No." Samuel repeated, "She demands payment. Payment for you killing her first mate's children." his grin was just noticeable under the dirty glass of his helmet, "Now she has nothing..." he squealed when Osiris put his foot on the egg and with his Light field strength crushed it. The fetus wriggled and gurgled for only a moment before its larynx collapsed under the Warlock's slimed boot. Its veins simmered and released a puff of golden light.

The moment of tension was palpable. 

All around them the eggs began to hum louder, the large male dragon lifted his head sleepily, tongue tasting the air like a snake.

Ellana used this moment to grab the wrist that had the gun and both of them went tumbling to the floor. She slammed his hand against the floor forcing him to let go of the fire arm but that's when she saw the knife come flying. She rolled back just in time and used her feet to kicked Samuel's mask, crushing the last of it away from his face.

"You will fertilize her future!" the man frothed, eyes clouded and skin withering away. 

"Stop!" Osiris lifted his hand and encircled the exGuardian in a ring of flame. Samuel tried to run through it but his skin bubbled and popped, he bore his teeth in rage.

"You're waking the children!!" he hissed. He turned this way and that trying to escape the heat. Samuel held his head, "Don't wake them! They need rest! They need peace! They will bring peace to this shattered world." the old Hunter looked sadly at the remains of the smashed egg.

Ellana looked nervously up at the dragon, yet curiously he hadn't moved from his pedestal. He lay calmly with his front claws over lapped and eyes attentive to their activity. She only recognized which one he was because of the burn marks she'd left on his face.

"These 'children' will never know peace, Samuel." Osiris growled as he approached the flailing thing he'd trapped, "But you will."

Samuel looked straight into Osiris' eyes this time, "May eternity rot your heart, Guardian!"

Bang!!

The shot rang clear and loud.

The flames died before Samuel's body hit the ground. What was left shriveled up into dust. 

Around them the eggs began to rattle against each other. Ellana heard Pearl send the signal out to the Guardians waiting outside. 

"Wait wait wait Pearl." Ellana looked up at the dragon who was still sitting there very unbothered by what they'd just done. Several smaller pairs of eyes, started peaking over the edge of the boulder. 

Small was a matter of perspective, each dracling was as long as they were tall. They all sniffed in their direction, curious. There was a distinct different between these children and the ones they'd seen before. Their white scales were crusted in gold and their eyes glowing a sky blue.

'Time is such a useful thing, seeker.' 

A large shadow passed over them as the Matriarch entered the cave with a powerful flap of her wings, the second male following close behind her.

She landed on the ledge above them, her children crowding around her feet until she snorted a bit of flame, forcing them to back off. The reproached with less gusto this time, making sure not to tangle her feet.

'Normally we are at the mercy of time's flow... oh how useful it is when you can bend it to your will.'

The rattling of eggshells was starting to become overwhelming. 

"You see what time has done to the Vex. They've become nothing, nothing but a seemingly unstoppable force that just wants to consume." Osiris responded. Ellana went up beside him, avoiding the pile of dust that had been Samuel.

"They have nothing, Matriarch."

'Correct. But they are not so different from anything that consumes. They've simply perfected changing things to what they think is perfect.' she tilted her massive head toward the Guardians, 'Your world is dying in this future, seeker, I can help keep death away now that you've freed me from Samuel's desires.' Osiris could feel it, those creeping claws that pricked the edge of his thoughts. He recoiled away from them however, clinging instead to the warm presence of Ellana in his mind.

When he recoiled the Matriarch's lips just barely curled into a growl.

'I see you are not alone... curious. You prefer to be alone do you not?'

"I'll make an exception for my partner. She's better company than you dragons ever could be." Osiris snorted.

Matriarch bore her teeth as a grin, 'Is she? You're not afraid she'll turn her back on you like the last one you loved?' 

For a moment Ellana felt that flicker of doubt cross Osiris' heart, then he reached out for her with his mind. Reminding himself that they now knew each other better than most people ever did in a life time. 

"Enough talk." Ellana stepped forward, "It was decreed long ago that your kind don't belong here."

'No more than the Traveler... but you accepted its embrace quite readily.' Matriarch lowered herself among her children. 'No matter. The Vex and Cabal have given me the time to understand the Light that Samuel gave me.'

The buzzing was starting to get on Ellana's nerves. She stepped forward and sent a blast of fire all around her, "I said... enough talk." the Warlock growled. The nests in front of her sizzled and popped, each egg cracking and releasing a puff of golden light particles.

Matriarch bore her teeth, tail swishing angrily, 'Very well.' she stood up to her full height and spread her wings to make herself look bigger and let out a roar that shook the cavern. Her two mates mirrored her actions.

Osiris glanced behind them, "Down!" he grabbed Ellana and dove for the scorched floor.

Several balls of fire went sailing through the air and smashed against the far wall with a distinct 'clank' as they exploded. A half a dozen super charged Sunbreakers came barreling over the edge, sending hammer after hammer into the lower echelon of the nest, destroying everything in sight.

The smell of fire and charred flesh hung painfully in the air even with her helmet filters on. With the mass of Guardians at their back the two Warlocks joined the fray. 

The large cavern filled with fire, lightening and rage.

Matriarch breathed in deep the chaos and sent a stream of fire down below. It wasn't just fire though, it was infused with the Light and so burned with a ferocity that rivaled a volcano. One of the Titans tried to leap up to the platform but mid way he curled up and yelled in surprised. He dropped to the floor clutching his head. The little blue eye'd draclings were all huddled together, wingless and helpless. Except for their music. 

It wasn't so much a song as a tempered note. These creatures had not inherited the Light through giving they had been born with it. Their adult counterparts could only focus on one person at a time but these ones seemed to be able to project the noise to everything around them.

So that's one reason they wouldn't leave the platform.

It didn't take long for the Guardians to realize this and quickly switched to long range weaponry. Matriarch seemed impervious to the smaller bullets and so made herself a shield to the males and her children. Another wave of molten flame came careening down the tunnel, forcing them to move back. The air filled with black smoke and waves of heat. One Guardian accidentally stepped onto the melted rocks and lost his foot. Getting chastised by his fellows he was pulled back out of harms way.

Osiris put his gun aside and made a cross gesture in front of him like he was pushing air away. The flames immediately in front of them blew out and simmered, leaving only the melted rock.

"You're a cornered rat, Matriarch." he yelled above the chaos.

The dragon snorted a puff of smoke in amusement. 'Come come, let's take this conversation somewhere quiet.' She spread her wings and dove straight toward the mass of Guardians. Everyone scattered as her razor sharp claws raked through them, sparks flying in response to her touch. In the pandemonium she knocked a fire team over with her tail, whirling around to try and find Osiris.

Matriarch squealed in pain when a rocket smashed into her side. Boiling flames were spat in all directions causing even more separation. Overhead one of the males had taken flight, dipping and diving among the Guardians trying to pluck them up and tear them apart.

Ellana paused against a pile of rubble to take in the scene. Osiris finally appeared on the other side, he wouldn't stay there for long. He had to stay just as fast as the dragon or he might get caught. The younger warlock looked up at the untouched nest above. A thought occurred to her.

"Sagira! Come here!"

'What?! Now?!'

"I said come here! Trust me!!" 

A little flash of blue light tore across the battle arena toward Ellana. Once she felt she had both Ghosts, she quickly scaled her way up, only having to dodge the flying male once in his fly by attempt to knock her off.

The noise from the Light infused Ahamkara was starting to make it hard to think the closer she got, but with Osiris anchoring her down she didn't lose sight of her intentions. 

Finally she reached the top where she felt like a whole nest of bees was flying around in her head. The scorched male was busy fighting off several projectiles, even not being full grown he was still a very powerful creature. 

Several pairs of eyes stared at Ellana, part out of terror part curious. The Awoken chose one shared memory to focus on between her and Osiris. She summoned both Ghosts out and grabbed them out of the air.

"Come here little ones... I may or may not have a wish here for you." she knelt holding out her friends.

"Um... Ellana?? Ellana have you gone nuts!!" Pearl screamed.

The clutch didn't move at first, then one stepped forward, nose sniffing the air. Its bravery helped those next to it step forward as well. They were hungry, it seemed all Ahamkara were hungry for the power that didn't belong to them. Ellana slowly stepped further back until the cliff met the heel of her boot. The majority of the clutch were starting to crawl a little faster toward her and her two ghosts, drool dripping from their pearl white teeth.

Tossing the frightened Ghosts over her shoulders Ellana burst into a super charged flame and made a sharp lifting motion from low to high. The ground around the darlings erupted in Light forged fire. A few escaped with screeches of terror while the others didn't live long enough to gurgle. Creatures of legend they may be, they were still children. Ignorant and ruled by their impulses. 

The scorched one whirled around at the dracling's cries and was hit directly on the back of his back with a cluster bomb. He wailed violently and fell off, wings shredded to nothing. On the floor of the cave he was quickly swarmed by Guardians.

Snarling and hissing, the remaining four of the clutch all clustered together, tiny scales pinned on edge as they tried to force Ellana down with the mental buzzing.These ones were the biggest of the clutch, also the loudest. Little claws were starting to rip apart her thoughts painfully. It was like they just didn't know how to focus their power or them being infused with Light just made it all the more potent. 

Just when Ellana was at the breaking point, a warm embrace averted her attention. Body engulfed in flames he'd managed to get up to her with no problem. 

Osiris wrapped his wings around them, creating a barrier just in time to prevent the Matriarch from touching them. She put herself between them what was left of her Light infused clutch and bore down on them with her own fire.

Even with his great strength, Osiris struggled to keep the great beast at bay. He pulled Ellana against his chest and turned his face into her neck. The man didn't have room for words while using so much power at once so he thought of that moment of when he admired Ellana's music. A time where she skipped along the dark pathways of the Vex and did not fear a thing.

Hearing his request, she turned into him out of instinct and dug deep into her Light. It didn't have to be fancy, it just had to be true. Sol was ever giving till the day it would collapse. 

Osiris drew upon Ellana's song and reached up with one hand sharply, his shield became a shockwave the tore through the Matriarch's heavily scaled body. She tried to grab what was left of her clutch but pain forced back and off the ledge where she sped off, smoke and the scent of charred flesh trailing in her wake. Osiris stood up and sent his emboldened flames to seek out the remaining male. The dragon screamed in agony as his body was reduced to ash and smoldering cinders above them.

You don't ever realize how much you appreciate silence till you don't have it. The air was heavy with heat waves, smoke and glowing particles of Light as what remained of the nest was destroyed. The Sunbreakers scorched everything down to nothingness, no bones, no egg shells, nothing. These creatures did not belong. Some hunters pushed further into the den to make sure there were no hidden surprises while others went to try and pursue the heavily injured Matriarch.

Flames smoldering down to nothingness, Osiris saw Ellana walk over to the charred remains of the new generation of Ahamkara that would never see the light of day. Ash fell quiet as snow on them as she knelt and placed a hand on the draclings head.

"Do you believe things can be born evil?" he asked.

"No." she curled her hands over the bodies, summoning flames to dispense of their remains, little pricks of whispers tickled the edge of her mind but those quickly crumbled away as their soft bodies were destroyed.

She could feel it, she could sense Osiris wanting to disagree and she was ready to fight about it. However instead of verbally starting up an argument he walked up behind her and made her turn around. He wiped the ash off of her helmet's visor so he could see the impression of her eyes, his hand lingering on her cheek. 

Ellana squinted at him, uncertain what he was thinking exactly. Emotions were complex, especially when you were trying to compare yours to someone else. Identifying them was quite difficult at times.

Osiris opened his mouth to say something but was distracted when someone called his name. One of the Sunbreakers, Tallin, had made her way up to them in order to exchange information. He huffed in annoyance but, duty always came first.

Ellana shook the moment off before attempting to wipe the ash off her person.

Pearl and Sagira appeared on either side of her.

"Ok young lady, let's discuss using us as bait!!" Pearl exclaimed.

The Warlock sighed heavily, tilting her head back in exasperation. As the two Ghosts yelled at her, she noticed a singular Hobgoblin standing alone up in the very corner of the den. It jittered, twirling a couple of its gears at an odd angle before teleporting away.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBH I didn't want to post the last chapter cuz... I hate endings :B Even if they're my own endings. To all that have enjoyed this lil adventure I thank you for joining! <3 I have more ideas for stories but we'll see if they bloom into writing. :3 I love you all! Y'all are awesome! Enjoy!

If there was a time for gods to fear, it was when Guardians were on the Hunt. Those that hadn't lost any limbs in the fight took off on an immediate march after the Matriarch. She was completely burned on one side of her body so there was not much left of that wing. 

As they all charged over the odd terrain Ellana couldn't help but notice that in the shadows there were more and more Vex starting to show themselves. They did not approach the squad of Guardians, they merely watched. Osiris noticed the change in the once empty environment as well, but they had to eliminate the Matriarch. If they allowed her time to heal herself with her stolen Light they would still have a large problem. 

The Sunbreakers were not a subtle group, if a wall stood before them they broke it down, nothing would stop them from getting to their prey.

Overhead the Ahamkara cried out in pain, forcing her near useless wing to work with every wing beat. 

"Osiris can you fly up to her?" Tanis asked.

"No she's still moving too fast."

A Hunter hopped on to one of the Titans shoulders, "Please throw me!" the Titan was surprised at first but then grabbed the Hunter, spun around and threw the Hunter straight up into the air. 

Just before he reached the peek of the throw, purple light boiled across his body as he pulled back the Void Bow and launched a single arrow through the air. The Hunter yelled in excitement when the arrow smashed and exploded right against the dragon's hindquarters. 

Matriarch doubled over as Void energy tangled up her limbs and mind, forcing her out of the air and crashing down one of the many chasms that had been created by the Vex. The Titan caught the Hunter who was very relieved to not have broken ankles. 

The hunting party quickly made their way down into the canyon. Luckily for them it was one that only had a trickle of radiolarium, probably drained out by a collapse where the Almighty had eaten part of the planet.

What they found at the bottom made Ellana's heart sink just a little.

The Ahamkara was partially laying in a pool of radoilarium, whimpering in agony as the substance slowly ate away at her exposed flesh. With much effort she tried to get up but with only one set of limbs healthy all she succeeded in doing was thrashing about and splashing more of the fluid around.

She hissed at them as they approached but barely had the strength to do even that. 

Osiris was the closest, still staying a modest distance away so he wouldn't get splashed, "So it ends, young Matriarch."

She gave a labored chuckle, already Ellana could see her white scales hardening into plates of Vex metal.

'All struggle ends, Warlock. It saddens me that I could not help my people return.' Using her one good claw she clutched the rough rock bed and pulled herself forward. With each tug the Guardians stepped back. Ellana could hear a high pitched whine, like mechanical bugs crawling all over except it was the change happening to the dragon.

'We saw the heavens and sought freedom from the Hunt... it was foolish of me to think we could escape your greed.'

"Our greed?" Ellana asked.

'The brutes who captured us. I was desperate so I called out to their Guardian... he was weak of mind having suffered so much loss.' she cringed in pain as something very audibly snapped inside her, the conversion was slowed now that she was out of the pool.

"Your kind are like moths to the Traveler's flame." Osiris said, "A parasite."

Matriarch chuckled again, 'My kind only became what made them great, just as you have.' she lay her head down, her panting becoming shallow and labored.

The group of Guardians all tensed up and readied their weapons when they heard something loud go thud in the darkness ahead. Ellana felt her skin start to crawl with familiarity. Osiris held up his hand to halt the twitchy Guardians before they opened fire.

The Patriarch limped out of the darkness, one leg completely useless due to not only injury but partial conversion. He walked around the female dragon, turning his back to the Guardians. She lifted her head with some effort. They made a strange deep sound in their throats, kind of like a thrum. He turned in such a way that their organic sides were facing each other as he lay down at her side. 

Up ahead where the other dragon had come from, familiar lights winked in and out, pacing back and forth. The Vex had delivered what they could conquer.

"Once we kill the Ahamkara, there's no reason for them to hold back." Talin said cautiously.

"No, there isn't." Osiris eyed the line of Vex above them as well.

'It's dark, seeker.' Patriarch's voice startled Ellana a little more than she cared to admit. Heart thumping in her ears, she looked cautiously at the dragon. With his mangled features he looked exhausted, his one organic eye drooped as he looked from his mate to her. 'It's cold in the dark.'

They'd come all the way across time only to lose what little hope they'd made for themselves.

Ellana couldn't bare the sight anymore. 

She approached the Ahamkara despite the protests of Osiris. The Warlock draw a flaming sword out of thin air. The blade found the Patriarch's heart first, she plunged it all the way down to the hilt.

"Ellana!" Osiris exclaimed in surprise. The other Guardians all tensed up, weapons at the ready.

Steam erupted as the skin blistered from the heat of the sword. Patriarch's eyes went wide with pain and then quickly grew dull. Ellana watched him die, her head swam with so much relief that she actually almost lost focus, the blade wavering between solidity and the ethereal. Then with one smooth motion she pulled the sword out whirled around with a slashing motion, beheading the Matriarch.

The other dragon's body spazzed dangerously, the one clawed foot raking Ellana's side just as she jumped away. The Warlock didn't seem to notice the cuts or the bleeding, just stood there wand watched as the body began to disintegrate into particles of light.

Amidst the smokey wisps the little figure of a Ghost seemed to appear. As it ascended it disappeared into nothingness.

A huge gust of air nearly knocked several Guardians off their feet. The ground shook with the sound of grinding stone and bending metal. 

Osiris looked up at the exposed sky and saw clouds racing across it with abnormal speed. The Vex did not attack but they were on the move en mass and at inhuman speeds.

"Time has returned to a normal flow in this area..." Osiris looked over when someone yelled. At one end of the chasm there was a massive white shimmer rushing toward them. The Warlock used his dice to open a portal and started yelling for the Guardians to exfiltrate immediately.

He rushed to Ellana's side and grabbed her hand, "Ellana it's time to go." he warned. The Awoken pressed her lips together and threw her sword to the ground before giving in to Osiris' urgings. As soon as it hit the ground the sword burst into a bunch of cinders.

The wind was practically pushing them into the portal at this point. Osiris saw the moment the wave of radiolarium reached the portal before it shut.

Far outside the great crack in the continent, the ground was still shaking. They all witnessed the odd bubbled that had formed around the canyon rapidly begin to shrink. The Vex now with the unhindered ability to repair the time torn area and the Great Machine underneath.

Vex efficiency at its finest.

"Soooooo... is that a mission well done?" the Hunter who'd brought the Matriarch down asked cautiously.

Osiris sighed heavily in relief, "Yes, the Hunt has ended... and the Machine isn't on the verge of being a threat to the solar system."

"Well, at least not in the form of exploding." Tevin snorted.

The group watched the Vex until they disappeared from the surface, moving further down into the Machine for repairs. Eventually they made contact with the Cult first. Apparently they'd been gone almost nine months although for them it had been a couple weeks. 

Ellana walked separate from the group as they traveled. She couldn't get her mind off the dying Ahamkara. Even though they would bring nothing but harm to the Guardians, the beasts were sentient enough to know what hope was. To see it drain from their eyes...

"Do not feel pity for them. Imagine the lives they would've ruined had they succeeded in rearing that clutch." Osiris told her, getting a sense of what and why she was feeling. 

The younger Warlock turned on him, "Then how should I feel? Oh great and wise Osiris, how should I feel when I look into the eyes of the dying?" she hardly waited for an answer, "We've been over this... I'm not stupid. I'm a Guardian... things just end up dead around us. Am I supposed to let my humanity die with them?" 

"That's not what I meant-."

"Then what did you mean!" 

When the man struggled for the words, Ellana turned around and kept walking. 

In their travels back to the Lighthouse and the portal to the Forest he tried to approach her but Ellana didn't have the patience to deal with his very large ego. 

A couple of times she noticed that he was arguing with Sagira again, privately in his native tongue. Outside of their meditations she couldn't understand him so she just shrugged it off.

The Sunbreakers parted ways at some point, getting picked up by their own support team.

Ikora was there to greet the Guardians back as well as Brother Vance and his entourage. 

"Where is Osiris?" Brother Vance was the first to ask.

Ellana had been so absorbed in her own thoughts the entire trip that she hadn't noticed that the old Warlock had vanished from the group. 

"Oh... " cautiously she reached out through their bond but all she felt was... a lack of anything. He simply was not there.

Pearl appeared, "I think he's gone back to the Forest, it was a massive mess when he was last there."

"I see." Ikora said with a touch of disappointment. 

They all debriefed with the head Warlock who then announced that those involved in the Hunt would be all leaving by the next ship that arrived. The Vex were already returning to their normal patrols. Apparently Osiris had ordered the Cult to cooperate with the Vanguard if they needed assistance and Ikora extended the offer from her side as well, though with some reservations (that sounded like Zevala's doing).

Ellana found to her dismay that she had been given a couple of 'servants' that called themselves the 'Handmaidens of Isis'. This was going to be a massive nuisance and she couldn't take them back to the Wall there would be more trouble than she wanted. The agitated Warlock spent most of her time with Ikora where she received the least amount of heckle from her peers.

"Zevala is requesting you go for a full medical when you return." Ikora said without looking up.

"You mean he wants to put me back in that machine that helped Pearl lock up my past." Ellana wasn't looking at anything in particular, tossing something she'd found in her pocket back and forth.

Ikora said nothing at first, "You know that's not what it's specifically used for."

"Yeah... doesn't make it any more pleasant. He's just afraid of Osiris." she stopped and looked in her hands, suddenly remembering that the small round object was the tree seed from Mercury's past.

"It would just put his mind to rest, that's all."

"Don't worry, Ikora, the Vanguard still has my heart. I will do as you request." Ellana turned the seed around in her palm carefully. It had dried up a little bit, so it was significantly lighter than she remembered.

"Your heart doesn't have to belong somewhere for you to be loyal." Ikora set down the papers she'd been reading, "Though matters of the heart should be settled before you move on." she gripped Ellana's shoulder before turning in for the day. 

Ellana sat there, surrounded by books, candles and scrolls. All derived from an unwilling prophet and made into a life for these people. They'd even renounced the safety of the City in order to live the way they wanted, even if it was a slightly 'flawed' one. 

"Jona, Rui." she called the names of her new companions. They quietly approached from where ever they'd been trying to stay out of her way, both were lean young women who had grown up in the wilds beyond the City. She sighed heavily, placing her hands on her hips as she looked at them, "I have a task that I need your help with."

Ellana had to pick the area she wanted carefully. There needed to be enough sunlight but it had to be out of the way as well. Once the Vex had built what they wanted, generally life continued in its forgotten crevices so long as light could still reach it. Mercury had been poisoned in the process all those years ago, yet still natural life managed to find tiny pockets to flourish in.

After promising Ikora that she would be back within a couple days to make the trip home, Ellana and the other women packed up a small transport ship with the materials she needed and sped off.

"I didn't think I'd miss Sagira's energy." Pearl mused out loud as they traveled, "She could've at least said good bye."

"Yeah... they could've." Ellana responded slowly.

"You ok?"

"I don't know."

Pearl settled on her shoulder pad, twittering a little worried note.

"Empty... that's it."

He looked up at her.

"That's what I'm feeling. When Sagira mind jacked you it felt like an invasion, with the fusion it now feels like a piece of me is literally missing." she chewed the inside of her cheek and adjusted her rifle on her lap, "Yet I'm all here. All of me, I'm me."

"You're apart of each other now."

Ellana rolled her eyes, "You sound like a romantic fiction."

"I know it's a dramatic phrase but it's true." Pearl insisted.

"So I get to feel a giant void in my whenever we're not in the same dimension? Great." Ellana adjusted her collar for the thousandth time. Sitting on the other side of her, Neema was just looking at her with this amused expression from time to time. She turned the page of her paper book. 

"What, Neema."

"I didn't say anything!"

"You say things with your face, that's why you lose at cards."

"I lose at cards cuz I get bored." Neema put a feather in between the pages to set her place, "Alright Miss Warlock, I've never had my mind melded... and I don't care too I think of too many weird things buuuut... from what it looks like to me is that you're mad cuz you love him."

Ellana sucked on the inside of her cheeks, "You know I don't believe in love at first sight."

"Sweetie, you've been getting to know this legend since reviving Sagira that day."

"It's not love."

"Well that's what it looks like."

"But it's not!"

"Ok, let's say it's not." Neema leaned back, "As Pearl said you and that man were basically one person at one or... several points in time recently. You're gonna feel a bit of a void if he's not around!" the orange eyed awoken couldn't help but smile when Ellana huffed in frustration.

Ellana wanted to continue the conversation but she didn't know where else to go with it. So she just folded her hands together and pouted silently the rest of the way.

It took them the better part of the day to find the Lighthouse they wanted. This one hadn't been visited in quite some time by anyone. Ellana had visited it once because she'd been curious, her curiosity costing her a lot of lives and time spent in the Crucible but in the end it had been worth it. Neema had been a regular visitor to the Trials.

Even though this Lighthouse bore treasure still, it had not been collected. Every fire team that had achieved greatness simply took what they'd felt was the right amount before leaving as quickly as they'd come.

"De ja vu." Neema said at one point. 

She wasn't wrong, something about this specific Lighthouse was haunting. That strange echo off the walls where no sound was yet you could sense a metropolis of movement and eyes around you. 

The four women left the treasures alone. Jona and Rui looked very uncomfortable being there but didn't seem afraid. Ellana chose the roof where plenty of sun light could still reach.

Here they set up four machines facing the major directions. They were very well made and could be self sufficient for the better part of Mercury's year without needing maintenance. At last they lay the foundation of clean soil and made it nice and neat.

Ellana held up the tree seed in front of Rui and Jona, "See this? I want you to come back periodically and make sure it grows." she tossed it back and forth between her hands.

"What is it for, my lady?" Rui asked carefully.

"Hope. Everyone needs a little hope. This is hope all the way from Mercery's past.... to remind people of the future that they can see again." her eyes trailed to the sky. The thin wispy clouds only just allowed the stars to peek through with Sol finally setting low on the horizon.

The void she'd been filling in her chest suddenly filled with warmth. It wasn't a painful thing, but it was like getting feeling back to a part of your body that had been asleep. Ellana didn't turn around, she could see the light from the portal around her shadow.

Neema ogled a moment before grabbing the other two women by the scarfs and ushering them off to the side, "Pardon us!" she exclaimed.

The Warlock had to pay attention to her grip on the seed so that she didn't crush it. She chanced a glance over her shoulder to see Osiris just standing there watching her. At the moment he was unreadable, he was very much holding his emotions in check.

"What?" Ellana asked. She didn't bother hiding her annoyance on any front. 

The Awoken didn't wait for an answer, she knelt where she was and started to dig a small hole for the seed, "Here to tell me how I should and should not feel again?" He walked up just behind her but Ellana refused to look at him. She finished digging the hole before placing the seed carefully at the bottom.

He walked to the other side and knelt to her level, reaching out and placing his hand on top of hers, "I left for two reasons." he started once she finally looked up, "One is that there is no rest for a Guardian so long as the Darkness is out there." he held on to her hand when she tried to pull away, "The other was because I wanted to tell you something and I wasn't exactly sure how to do that."

"Really... you went to check on your doubles so you could cheat your way to having more time to think?" she saw a small sparkle in his brown eyes and that just made her face become warm with frustration, "Give me my hand back please." she huffed.

He stood up and didn't let go of her hand so that forced her to stand up as well, "I've had several talks with Sagira over... a very long period of time."

"More like yelling matches." Sagira popped out for just a second before going back to hiding in Osiris' head space. 

Osiris rolled his eyes at the interruption, "While I disagree with some of her reasoning... I do agree that I've... perhaps lost sight of some things during my studies of the Vex."

"I was trusted with something very precious to Humanity... the future of new Guardians and I betrayed that trust. Obviously that's just the... summed up version of the story." he cleared his throat, "You'd think after all my time being alive I would remember how to deal with people." 

He held her hand with both of his, "Especially people like you, Ellana. Some of the strongest spirits out there, Guardian or not. In order to deal with monsters in the universe many people become them. Not you... you walk next to them. Even manage to see their struggles." he looked away, "I... can't do that. I can't expose my heart to the universe and still survive."

"Seeing you hurting, and especially feeling it... I tried to help you the only way I knew." Osiris pressed his lips together in a hard line, "I'm sorry, I did not mean to harm you further."

Ellana heaved a large sigh, thinking about what he'd just said carefully before she answered, "You are forgiven... I don't know how long passed in the Forest but it wasn't enough time here for me to stop being pissed. Especially with how you just suddenly left!" 

"You know, a little warning next time might help with preparing for the void dimensional walls seem to leave." Pearl piped up between both of their ears.

"Yes... that I apologize for as well." Osiris looked pained for a moment, probably remembering when the void started to happen to him. It wasn't like a piece of cloth ripping, the feeling was more like a fire slowly dying during the night.

"Two apologies in one conversation that's a new record! Ella you don't realize how long my list of apologies he owes me I'm proud of you actually!" Sagira twittered.

"For Traveler's sake! Kiss her already!!"

Neema's voice carried loudly over them from where she was sitting on a broken piece of the roof. The Hunter sitting like she was watching an film back in the City.

Ellana went stiff with embarrassment, "Neema!" she chucked a small harmless ball of solar energy at the Hunter who ducked before slipping down one of the ladders with a giggle. 

It was as at this moment Ellana felt a tug on her hand. She turned around to protest when instead her words turned into a very surprised squeak as her lips met Osiris'. 

This action surprised her so much that she didn't know what to do for the first few seconds till Osiris pulled her closer into his strong embrace. Once the shock finally left Ellana's poor brain she couldn't help but relax into his strong arms and return the kiss. 

When at last they did part the kiss they didn't let go of each other. Ellana dizzy from such strong emotions being exchanged between them through their bond. She was so used to just pain echoing between them that she just wasn't quite sure what to do with this lofty happy feeling in her chest.

"Uhm." was all she could manage at first.

"Seemed like a good suggestion." the lines around his eyes deepened with a smile. Ellana realized that this was the first time she'd ever seen Osiris look a bit vulnerable. It was not a face anyone had mentioned in his legend. 

"Wasn't I just mad at you a second ago?" Ellana said without conviction. Words weren't good enough but she certainly was trying to find them.

"*Ghani li*... my love" he whispered, pushing her hair from her face and kissing her again. He'd asked for her to sing for him.

Ellana rested her forehead against his, breathing slowly as she dove through the hot waves of emotion down to her Light. Humming a small bit of melody that just seemed to fit the moment. 

He took her hand in his and reached out over the seedling. Instead of feeling his intention as an outsider looking in, Ellana experienced a moment where Osiris had tried to master something and failed several years in a row to achieve. It was the other side of the Light. In the Vanguard you were taught to use the Light aggressively and with no remorse. This achieved the violence needed to fight, but not to grow. The less practiced art of nurturing.

Little licks of energy dripped from their hands but fell like smoke and settled into the dirt. Slowly but surely a sapling grew from the ground, black bark hardening and pink leaves spreading wide to make that unique flat canopy. Ellana couldn't help but smile at what they'd done. It had never occurred to her to use her Light so differently. Osiris was pleased at her happiness. For the first time in a very long time, the scent of flowers touched Mercery's air.

Nothing existed outside of this moment. For Ellana the only love she'd known as a Risen had been her Guardian family in the Vanguard, as well as with Pearl of course. Love for an individual was not unknown, but it certainly wasn't encouraged either. Guardians after all, were created with one thing in mind.

"We cannot allow ourselves to be selfish." Osiris warned, seemingly more toward himself than to her, "We still have our wars to fight."

"Of course... we weren't meant to live we were meant to fight."

"Yes, protectors of Humanity." a very Osiris response, but this time he seemed weary admitting it. He hugged her tighter, as if by doing so he could perhaps keep them in that moment forever. 

All the time in the universe, yet not a second to spare.

~~~

It was fascinating to watch the bond their Guardians shared in a visual capacity. All across each wall, the numbers and letters weren't just glowing they were burning a teal fire as quiet as a candle. Pearl had only seen the headspace this radiant a few times, all of which was when Ellana had unlocked a new portion of her Light. This was them existing together. 

During these times, the two ghosts could pass freely between the two individuals. This caused some of the different landscapes to cross each other, created a strange maze like center.

Sagira flew over a wall and straight toward him. This time she was gracious enough to not just smack into him.

"You think they would feel the same way had I not opened the flood gates?" she asked as they hovered over the fused walls.

"Maybe, given enough time. What does Neema call it... this is like an extreme case of speed dating."

"That's hardly a perfect metaphor."

"Well... you name Ghosts who've had our situation."

"Touche." 

Pearl pulled up a holographic terminal and examined some information, "Ugh... this is all gonna be a mess to hide from the Cryptarcs back home."

"Why would you hide it?"

"Most likely Ikora has told Zevala of us getting closer than normal. I trust Zevala... I don't trust anyone else."

"If you don't trust anyone in the City why stay there?"

"Because there's more people I trust there than out here." Pearl shrugged, "Look just because Osiris left doesn't mean Ellana wants to... yet, anyway."

"Ooook." Sagira took note of the nasty scar on Pearl's side. Even she didn't bear one so deep.

"Well," she said, "Even prepared they're going to need to meet up again someday, who knows that could be decades from now."

"Or sooner... with how the Forest works.... or longer! Who the hell knows!"

"A common problem with paracausal beings... we live in true obliviousness to our futures." Sagira gave Pearl a friendly bump to get his attention, "As much of a train wreck as this past.... um... X amount of time has been. I'm happy."

"Happy?"

"Yup!" she twirled around him, "Osiris most likely won't spiral into insanity at this point, with someone to think of other than those thankless.... lovely people back at the Vanguard." she corrected herself. She watched Pearl for his reaction but he didn't challenge her opinion.

"Seems like you needed company just as bad as he did."

Sagira narrowed her optic at him, "What makes you say that? I love my Guardian."

"So do I... that doesn't mean we don't have our fights. With Osiris as your Guardian I imagine every day there's always a fight, whether intentional or not." her huge sigh told him the answer, "You two desire to be around people as much as you spurn them."

"Yeah well... they started it!"

"Fantastic!" he turned back to his monitor, "All of us well over a couple centuries old and the come back is 'they started it'." the white ghost chuckled in amusement.


End file.
